140 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 18-No. 10 
The Marsh Hawk. 
The Marsh Hawk or Harrier ( Circus hud- 
somus) is one of our commonest Hawks. 
It generally arrives in this locality about the 
middle of March, and from that time till the 
last of November can be seen sailing over 
the prairies and fields in search of its prey. 
Unlike most Hawks, it can be readily recog- 
nized at a distance by means of the white 
tail coverts. I shot my first specimen of 
this species on April 9, 1892. It was hov- 
ering around over a spot on the prairie, and 
finally lit on the ground, and I shot it. On 
going to retrieve the game I found it had in 
its talons a large field mouse, variety {^Arvi- 
cola riparius) ; the mouse was still alive, 
but badly lacerated. The bird was a fine 
male, of a bluish-gray color above and white 
below, sparsely streaked with light reddish- 
brown. It measured L. 19; W. 14 ; T. 9. 
The iris was a pale straw color. The male 
of this species is about as beautiful a Hawk 
as can be found. On June 4, 1892, while 
wading through a small slough, I saw a Hawk 
fly from a clump of grass and fly off over a 
hill. I went over to the nest, which was in 
the middle of the clump of grass and float- 
ing in water about two feet deep. It was 
about sixteen inches across, rose about three 
inches above the water and was nice and dry 
inside, neatly hollowed, and composed of 
small sticks, rushes, reeds, small rose bush, 
slough grass, and lined with fine dry grass. 
I left the nest to see what the Hawk would 
do. She circled around quite a ways off, 
seemingly unconcerned, and then came back 
to the nest. I then returned, and gathered 
in the five eggs, which were a dirty white 
color, unmarked, with incubation advanced. 
My next find of this species was May 13, 
1893. While I was hunting, a Hawk flew 
up from the ground in front of me. On in- 
vestigation I found a nest containing three 
beautiful fresh eggs. They were so different j 
from the Marsh Hawk’s eggs I had found j 
before, that at first I thought they were of I 
another species. The nest was on the ground, 
about half way up on the north side of a high, 
steep hill, composed of large weed stalks, 
mostly placed on the lower side of the nest 
to make up for the slant of the hill. It was 
lined with fine dry grass. The ? bird was 
soon joined by the $ , and flew screaming 
around very high up in the air. I came 
back to the nest about two hours afterward 
to try and secure the ? bird. She left the 
nest as before, and as she made a low swoop 
my companion shot her. Took the eggs, 
which were of a pale bluish color, two of 
them rather thickly blotched over the whole 
surface with a very light brown with a lilac 
tinge, looking like miniature eggs of the • 
Red-tailed Hawk ; while the third egg was 
thickly spotted wfth many small and a few 
large spots, all of a clear brown color. The 
9 Hawk measured 21 inches in length, W. 
15 /^ ; T. She was considerably larger 
and more courageous, though not as beauti- 
ful as the male bird. The back was brown, 
without any bluish tinge, and with the 
streaks underneath larger and darker. The 
iris of this bird was brown. 
This occasion was the only time I ever 
heard a bird of this species utter a sound. 
Rudolph AI. Anderson. 
Forest City, Iowa. Q.* O.Vol.l8,Oot.l8S3 p.140 
May 11th I received a full set 
of eggs of the Marsh Harrier, five in num- 
ber. The nest was placed on the ground 
in the prairie grass. Two more nests were 
found, May 18th, containing respectively 
five and six eggs. These last were slightly 
O.&o. vui. !ec3. p. /f 
A Philadelphia ■Collection of Eggs of 
the Eaptores. 
Circus hudsonlus. Mar.sli Hawk. One set of 
! seven, one set of six, three sets of five, two 
sets of four. Total: seven sets, thirty-six eggs. 
O.&o. Xiy.Mar. 1889 
incubated, 
(/oUaotion of Bap tores Eggs. J.P.NT. 
I Mar.'xh Hawk, 2-4, 3-r), 2-(;. 1-7, s 40 
O.&o. XV, Apr. 1890 . p. 50 
