HAWK— HARRIER— RED-TAIL— BUZZARDS. 



14S 



display the dash of the athletic bird, which, if lacking the brute 

 strength and brutal ferocity of some, becomes their peer in prow- 

 ess — like the trained gymnast, whose tight-strung thews, supple 

 joints, and swelling muscles, under marvelous control, enable him 

 to execute feats, that to the more massive or not so well condi- 

 tioned frame would be impossible. One can not watch the flight 

 of the Kite without comparing it with the thoroughbred racer. 



11 The Swallow-tailed Kite is a marked feature of the scene in 

 the Southern States, alike where the sunbeams are redolent of the 

 orange and magnolia, and where the air reeks with the pestilent 

 miasm of moss-shrouded swamps that sleep in perpetual gloom. 

 But, imbued with a spirit of adventure, possessed of unequaled 

 powers of flight, it often wanders far from its southern home ; it 

 has more than once crossed the ocean, and become a trophy of no 

 ordinary interest to the ardent collector in Europe. On the Atlan- 

 tic coast its natural limit appears to be the lower portions of Vir- 

 ginia, similar in physical and zoological characters to the Caroli- 

 nas ; but it has more than once occurred in the Middle States. 



*■* I have before me an egg of this species, from the Smithsonian 

 collection taken in Iowa. It measures 1.90 by 1.50; one end is 

 smaller than the other, though the greatest diameter is nearly equi- 

 distant from either. The ground-color is white, but tinged, as if 

 soiled or otherwise mechanically discolored, with a faint brownish 

 shade ; it is marked with large, irregular blotches of rusty and 

 chestnut-brown, most numerous around the smaller end. Besides 

 these there are some specks and small spots of blackish-brown. 



" As if in compensation for its powers of flight, this bird's legs 

 are so short as to be scarcely serviceable for locomotion, and it 

 rarely, if ever, alights on the ground. Its food is principally rep- 

 tiles and insects. It is found in winter in Central and South Amer- 

 ica, and is said, whether or not with entire truth I do not know, 

 to withdraw altogether from the United States in September, to re- 

 turn in April. It appears to breed indifferently throughout its nor- 

 mal United States range." 



Marsh Hawk. Marsh Harrier. American Harrier. {Circus cyancus, 

 var. hudsonius.') 



Fig. 2. 



The geographical distribution of this species is co-extensive with 

 our continent south to Costa Rica. With the exception of the 

 southeastern portion of the United States, it is everywhere abun- 

 dant. According to Audubon its notes resembles the syllables, 

 ■pee-$ee--pee. 



The Marsh Harrier, says Coues, belongs among the " ignoble" 

 birds of the falconers, but is neither a weakling nor a coward, as 

 one may easily satisfy himself by handling a winged bird. Still, 

 under ordinary circumstances, its spirit is hardly commensurate 

 with its physique, and its quarry is humble. It lacks the splendid 

 action that insures success, in the pursuit of feathered game, to the 

 dashing Falcons and true Hawks; with all its stroke of wing, it 

 acquires no such resistless impetus. Audubon, indeed, says that 

 at times, when impelled by hunger, it will attack Partridges, 

 Plovers, and even Teal ; but he adds, that he once saw a Marsh 

 Hen come off victorious in a battle with the Harrier. It ordinarily 

 stoops to field-mice, small reptiles, and insects. It is particularly 

 fond of frogs ; these goggle-eyed and perspiring creatures suffer 

 more from the Harriers than from all the school-boys that ever 

 stoned them of a Saturday afternoon. The birds thus particularly 

 resemble the Rough-legged Buzzards in the nature of their prey, 

 and we can see a reason why they are so tenacious of their watery 

 preserves. They hover at no great height, keenly surveying the 

 ground below, and drop directly on their quarry when it is descried. 

 They rarely pursue their prey or transport it to any distance when 

 secured, preferring to make a meal on the spot. Hence it fre- 

 quently happens that, when walking in seedy covert, the gunner 



puts up a Marsh Hawk, disturbed at its repast in the thick vegeta- 

 tion, that served alike to screen the bird and cover his own ad- 

 vance. At such a time, as the bird flaps up and makes off at its 

 best pace, it may be brought down with the greatest ease. With 

 wings of ample dimensions — even to be called long in proportion 

 to its weight — the bird, nevertheless, does not fly very fast ; it pro- 

 ceeds ordinarily with regular, easy strokes, three or four times in 

 succession, and then sails until the impulse is exhausted. It often 

 courses very low over the ground, and rather swiftly, turning, 

 passing, and repassing, "quartering" the ground, like a well 

 broken do£. This is the habit that has #iven it the name of " Har- 

 rier,"and, in some sections, the less elegant designation of " Bog- 

 trotter." The old male is also sometimes called " Blue Hawk." 



Western Red-tail. Red-tailed Black Hawk. Black Red-tail. Hen Hawk. 

 Red-tailed Buzzard. (JButeo borealis, vai\ calurus?) 



Fig. 3- 



This is a western variety of a species so generally found in all 

 parts of North America. Its habits are the same as the bird rep- 

 resented on Plate XXX., and described on page 37. 



Swainson's Hawk. Swainson's Buzzard. (Buteo swainsonii.) 



Fig- 4- 



We copy, from Dr. Coues' interesting account of this species, the 

 following : 



" This large Hawk is very abundant in Northern Dakota, where 

 it came under my almost daily observation during the summer of 

 1873. Excepting an occasional Rough-leg or Red-tail, it was the 

 only buteonine species observed, and the only Hawks more com- 

 mon were the ubiquitous Marsh Harriers and Sparrow Hawks. 

 The species is thoroughly distinct from its nearest ally, B. borealis; 

 it never gains the red tail, so characteristic of the latter, and dif- 

 fers in many other points of coloration in its several stages of plum- 

 age, as noted beyond. Although its linear dimensions intergrade 

 with those of the Red-tail, it is not so heavy nor so large a bird, 

 and its shape differs in some points. A very tangible and con- 

 venient distinction, to which my attention was first called by Mr. 

 Ridgway, and which I have verified in numerous instances, is 

 found in the emargination of the primaries. As stated in my late 

 work (Key N. A. Birds, p. 217), Swainson's Buzzard has only 

 three emarginate primaries, while the Red-tail has four; the 

 fourth quill of the former, like the fifth of the latter, is variously 

 sinuate-tapering, but never shows the decided nick or emargina- 

 tion of the inner web. 



" Swainson's Buzzard may be seen anywhere in the region men- 

 tioned, even far out on the prairie, miles away from timber, cir- 

 cling overhead, or perched on the bare ground. In alighting, it 

 generally takes advantage of some little knoll commanding a view 

 around, though it often has no more prominent place than the heap 

 of dirt from a badger's hole, from which to cast about for some im- 

 prudent gopher, espied too far from home, or still more ignoble 

 game. But the bird prefers timber, and, especially as its nesting 

 is confined to trees, it is most frequently observed in the vicinity ot 

 the few wooded streams that diversify the boundless prairie. In 

 Northern Dakota such streams cut their tortuous way pretty deeply 

 into the ground ; and the sharp edges of the banks, rising steep 

 on one side, and on the other stretching away on a continuous level, 

 are favorite resting-spots, where sometimes a line of several birds 

 may be observed strung along a distance of a few yards. The 

 Souris or Mouse river, a stream of this description, is a favor- 

 ite resort, where I found the birds more numerous than elsewhere. 

 Much of the river-bottom is well wooded with elm, oak, and other 

 large trees ; and the number of nests found in this timber — some- 



