HAWKS, EAGLES, AND KITES 
291 
its prey, devours it, and drinks while under way. Its flight possesses 
all the marvelous ease and grace of a Swallow’s, made more evident, 
and consequently more impressive, by the bird’s much greater size. 
328. Elanus leucurus ( Vieill .). White-tailed Kite. Ads. — Upper- 
parts ashy gray, whiter on the head; wing-coverts black; tail and under- 
parts white. Im. — Very different, head streaked black and whitish; back 
black narrowly tipped with rusty, many of the feathers with more or less 
concealed white bars; tail black, central feathers barred with gray, others 
with white; underparts rufous with buff margins; throat white, region around 
eye velvety black. A later plumage has the back grayish brown edged with 
whitish, tail gray tipped with white; wings much as in the adult, underparts 
white, breast streaked with rufous. L., 15'50; W., 12*50; T., 7*00; B. from 
N., *70. 
Range. — N. and S. A. Breeds in Lower Austral zone in Calif., Tex., 
Okla., S. C., and Fla.; casual in s. Ills., La., Miss., and Ala.; winters in Calif, 
and Fla. and s. rarely to Guatemala; resident in S. A. and Argentina and 
Chile to Venezuela. Accidental in Mass. 
Nest , in trees. Eggs , 3-5, “handsomely marbled or clouded with various 
shades of rich madder-brown on a paler (sometimes whitish) ground, 1*71 x 
1*31” (Ridgw.). Date , Brownsville, Tex., May 11. 
This species is not often found east of the Mississippi. It frequents 
open, marshy situations. A pair which I observed in Texas hunted 
by hovering over the reeds, sustaining a position facing the wind, and 
about forty feet from the ground, by a gentle movement of the wings. 
329. Ictinia mississippiensis {Wils.). Mississippi Kite. Ads . — ■ 
Head, neck, exposed margins of the secondaries, and underparts gray; back 
bluish slate-color; primaries streaked or spotted with rufous-chestnut; tail 
black, without bars. Im. — Head streaked with black and white; back black- 
ish, tipped with rufous or white, the concealed parts of the feathers white and 
with generally one blackish bar; primaries without rufous; tail with three 
or four broken white bars; below buffy, streaked with rufous and grayish 
brown. L., 14*00; W., 11*25; T., 6*50; B. from N., *60. 
Range. — Lower Austral zone from s. Kans., Iowa, Ills., s. Ind., and S. C., 
s. to Tex., and Fla.; winters in Fla. and s. Tex., and s. rarely to Guatemala; 
accidental in Colo., S. D., Wise., and Pa. 9 
Nest, in tall trees. Eggs, 1-3, dull white, sometimes with a bluish tinge, 
1*63 x 1*32. Date, Lee Co., Tex., May 22; coast S. C., May 27, large embryo. 
This bird, like the preceding, is only a summer resident in the 
United States, arriving from the south in April. It is not common 
east of Louisiana. It migrates in flocks, sometimes flying within gun- 
shot, and at others so far above the earth as to be almost beyond the 
bounds of vision. 
330. Rostrhamus soeiatoilis {Vieill.). Everglade Kite. Ad.c ?. — 
Dark slate-color; under, and longer upper tail-coverts, and base of the tail 
white, tip of the tail whitish ; upper mandible much lengthened and hooked. 
$ and Im. — Upperparts black, tipped with rufous; underparts barred and 
mottled with rufous, black and buffy; tail as in the Ad. <?. L., 18*00; W., 
14*00; T., 7*75; B., 1*20. 
Range.—' Tropical Fla., Cuba, e. Mex., Cen. Am., and e. S. A. to Argentina; 
migratory in n. Fla. 
Nest, in bushes, among reeds or tall grasses. Eggs, 2-3, pale bluish white, 
heavily spotted, blotched, or washed with cinnamon or chocolate, 1*85 X 
1*47. Date, near Ft. Myers, Fla., Mch. 1. 
21 
