MARSH HA WK. 25 7 



with black ; tail, long, extending three inches beyond the 

 wings, rounded at the end, and of a pale sorrel colour, crossed 

 by four broad bars of very dark brown, the two middle feathers 

 excepted, which are barred with deep and lighter shades of 

 chocolate brown ; chin, pale ferruginous ; round the neck, a 

 collar of bright rust colour ; breast, belly, and vent, pale rust, 

 shafted with brown ; femorals, long, tapering, and of the same 

 pale rust tint ; legs, feathered near an inch below the knee. 

 This was a female. The male differs chiefly in being rather 

 lighter and somewhat less. 



This hawk is particularly serviceable to the rice-fields of 

 the southern States, by the havoc it makes among the clouds 

 of rice buntings that spread such devastation among that 

 grain in its early stage. As it sails low and swiftly over the 

 surface of the field, it keeps the flocks in perpetual fluctua- 

 tion, and greatly interrupts their depredations. The planters 

 consider one marsh hawk to be equal to several negroes for 

 alarming the rice-birds. Formerly the marsh hawk used 

 to be numerous along the Schuylkill and Delaware, during the 

 time the reeds were ripening, and the reed-birds abundant ; 

 but they have of late years become less numerous here. 



Mr Pennant considers the " strong, thick, and short legs " 

 of this species as specific distinctions from the ring-tailed 

 hawk ; the legs, however, are long and slender ; and a marsh 

 hawk such as he has described, with strong, thick, and short 

 legs, is nowhere to be found in the United States. 



