It is notoriously difficult to make a good skin 
of a Marsh Hawk. The chief trouble is with the feathers 
of the foreneck which will not lie smoothly or "cover" 
well unless the neck be wired and the head arranged with 
the bill pointing straight upward after the manner in 
which Owl skins are now usually made a {--- -).. 
The explanation occurred to me this morning as I was 
watching a Marsh Hawk beating a meadow. I noticed that the 
bird held his bill pointing straight downward , the whole 
time he was within range of my glass. On reflection I 
I remembered having observed the same fact many times 
before but for the first time it occurred to me that this 
position of the head and neck must be the only natural and 
easy one for a bird whose whole life, practically, is 
spent skimming low over fields and meadows with its eyes 
scanning the ground directly beneath. When one comes to 
think of it, there are few birds that search for food in 
this way and of these such as I am familiar with, viz. 
the Turkey and Black Vulture and the Mississippi and 
Swallow-tailed Kites have much the same way of carrying 
the head, as the Marsh Hawk, while with the Kites at least 
the skin must be made after the manner above described 
in order to get the feathers of the neck to lie smoothly. 
