398 
BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. 
The harriers are distinguished in their tribe by their weak, 
much compressed bill, destitute of a tooth or sharp process, 
but with a strongly marked lobe ; their short and bristly cere ; 
their long, slender, and scutellated tarsi ; their slender toes, of 
which the outer are connected at base by a membrane ; their 
nails, subequal, weak, channelled beneath, much incurved, and 
extremely sharp : a very remarkable characteristic is exhibited 
in their long wings, subequal to the tail, which is large, and 
even, or slightly rounded at tip : their first quill is very short, 
always shorter than the fifth, and the third or fourth is the 
longest. Their slender body and elegant shape chiefly dis- 
tinguish them from their allies, the buzzards. They may be 
farther subdivided into those in which the female at least is 
possessed of that curious facial ring of scaly or stiff feathers, 
so remarkable in the owls, and those entirely destitute of it. 
One species only is found in the United States, which belongs 
to the first section, and cannot be confounded with any other 
than that from which we have thought proper to distinguish it 
at the beginning of this article. In this section, the female 
differs essentially from the male, the young being similar to her 
in colour. The latter change wonderfully as they advance in 
age, to which circumstance is owing the wanton multiplication 
that has been made of the species. In those which compose 
the second section, the changes are most extraordinary, since, 
while the adult male is of a very uniform light colour, approach- 
ing to white, the female and young are very dark, and much 
spotted and banded : they are also much more conspicuously 
distinguished by the rigid facial ring. 
These birds are bold, and somewhat distinguished for their 
agility, especially when compared with the buzzards ; and in 
gracefulness of flight they are hardly inferior to the true fal- 
cons. They do not chase well on the wing, and fly usually at 
no great height, making frequent circuitous sweeps, rarely 
flapping their wings, and strike their prey upon the ground. 
Their food consists of mice, and the young of other quadru- 
