67 



MARSH HAWK. 

 FALCO ULIGINOSUS. 

 [Plate LI Fig/1.] 



Edw. ly, 291. — ^Lath. I, 9Q,'—'JircU Zool. p, 208, JVo* 105.— BarTiiam, j?. 290.— Pealt^^s Museum, 



JVo, 318. 



A DRAWING of this Hawk was transmitted to Mr. Edwards 

 more than fifty years ago by Mr. William Bartram, and engraved 

 in Plate 291 of Edwards^s Ornithology. At that time, and I be- 

 lieve till now, it has been considered as a species peculiar to this 

 country. 



I have examined various individuals of this Hawk, both in 

 summer and in the depth of winter, and find them to correspond 

 so nearly with the Ring-tail of Europe that I have no doubt of their 

 being the same species. 



This Hawk is most numerous where there are extensive mea- 

 dows and salt marshes, over which it sails very low, making fre- 

 quent circuitous sweeps over the same ground in search of a spe- 

 cies of mouse figured in Plate L, and very abundant in such situa- 

 tions. It occasionally flaps the wings, but is most commonly seen 

 sailing about within a few feet of the surface. They are usually 

 known by the name of the Mouse Hawk along the sea coast of 

 New Jersey, where they are very common. Several were also 

 brought me last winter from the meadows below Philadelphia. 

 Having never seen its nest, I am unable to describe it from my 

 own observation. It is said, by European writers, to build on the 

 ground, or on low limbs of trees. Mr. Pennant observes, that it 

 sometimes changes to a rust colored variety, except on the rump 

 and tail. It is foimd, as was to be expected, at Hudson's Bay, 



