HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES: MARSH HAWK 
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as early as August 20, 1903 (Bailey); and a pair at El Rito, August 19, 1910 (Hender¬ 
son); but usually they do not appear until much later and then are fairly common 
locally in the lower parts of the State. One was seen in the Datil Mountains, 
October 10, 1905 (Hollister); [one seen, October 15, 1917, and one October 4, 1918, 
near Carrizozo (Ligon)]; noted near Corona, October 25, 1902 (Gaut); near Socorro, 
November 17, 1846 (Abort); at Mai Pais Spring near Tularosa, December 23, 1902 
(Gaut); during the winter at Fort Fillmore and Fort Thorn (Henry); and two in 
March, 1913, near Beaver Lake (Ligon). Three persons, Henry, Marsh, and Wilson, 
report them as rare near Silver City, where one was seen as late in the spring as 
May 1, 1884.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —On cliffs or in high trees, a bulky mass of sticks, lined variously with 
roots, grass, seaweed, rushes, turf, vines, or plant stalks. Eggs: Usually 2, white, 
unmarked. 
Food. —Largely dead fish; also wounded waterfowl, squirrels, rabbits, prairie 
dogs; in some places, poultry and young stock; and, in times of necessity, carrion. 
General Habits. —The sight of the lordly white-headed Bald 
Eagle—our national emblem—flying across the width of a lake or 
standing perched on a lofty dead tree on the shore, glancing keen-eyed 
now in one and now in another direction, will not soon be forgotten, for 
he is a superb bird, the dominant figure in his landscape. One of the 
great birds seen by Mr. Ligon perched on a telegraph pole, used to the 
heavy artillery of the heavens, calmly maintained his position when a 
railroad train went thundering by below him. 
Though his local food habits are not beyond reproach from the human 
point of view, he has much to his credit. On occasion, it is said, lie 
plays the game gulls do with pelicans, intimidating the successful Pish 
Hawk until it drops its fish, when with superior speed he darts down and 
seizes it before it reaches the water! But his early training did not in¬ 
clude the ten commandments! Moreover, the u close, firm, imbricated, 
oily” plumage of the Fish Hawk fits him peculiarly for diving, while 
the heavy body of the Bald Eagle enables him to fold his wings and diop 
down easily to catch the fish when it is once out of water. So each 
specialist may well follow his trade, the most expert little guessing that 
he is yielding to temptation! 
The Bald Eagle's feathers like those of the Golden Eagle are used by 
the Indians. At Zuni, when on the Wheeler Survey, Mr. Henshaw 
saw about a dozen of the birds in wicker cages. 
Additional Literature. — Brewster, William, Bull. Mus. Comp. 
Harvard College, LXVI, 340-349, 1925.—Herrick, F. H., Auk,XLI, 89 105, 
213-231, 389-422, 517-541, 1924 (nesting).—P oole, E. L., Auk, XLII, 20J -lb, 
1925 (flight).— Walker, E. P., Bird-Lore, XXLX, 157-160, 1927. 
HARRIERS: Subfamily Circinae 
MARSH HAWK: Circus hudsonius (Linnaeus) 
Plates 9 and 15 
Description. — Length: 19.5-24 inches, wing 12.9-16, tail 8.8-10.5, tarsus 
2.8-3.2. Bill small; face encircled by an owl-like ruff of short feathers, plumage 
loose and of owl-like softness, wing with four outer quills cut out on inner webs, 
