THE MARSH HAWK 
By P. BERNARD PHILIPP 
The National Association of Audubon Societies 
Educational Leaflet No. 8 
The Marsh Hawk, known also locally as Harrier, Blue Hawk, and 
Mouse Hawk, is one of the most abundant, valuable, and widely distributed 
of the hawk family in North America; and it differs little from the Hen 
Harrier ( Circus cyaneus) of the Old World. 
This is one of the handsomest of our birds of prey. The male comes 
north in the spring in a bright nuptial dress, bluish-gray above, white 
YOUNG MARSH HAWKS IN THEIR NEST 
Photographed at Stump Lake Reservation, South Dakota, by Alfred Eastgate 
on the rump, and the tail barred with dark bands ; lower parts, grayish- 
white profusely marked with light-brown dashes, lines and spots ; tips 
of wings, blackish. The female is considerably larger than her mate 
(total length 22 inches), and she is much darker in her coloring, and 
more heavily streaked ; immature birds resemble her. 
