26 
WHITE-TAILED HAWK. 
motionless. Though occasionally met with on the African coast 
of the Mediterranean, not a solitary individual has ever been 
known to visit the opposite shores of Italy, Spain, or Turkey, 
nor has it been met with in any other part of Europe. 
When at rest, it is generally seen perched on high bushes, 
where the pure white of the lower parts of its body renders it 
very conspicuous at a distance. It utters a sharp piercing cry, 
which is often repeated, especially when on the wing, though Mr. 
Peale assures us, that our individual uttered no cry. Like its 
closely related species, it does not attack small birds, except for 
the purpose of driving them from its favourite food, which consists 
of hemipterous insects, chiefly of the Gryllus and Mantis genera, 
as well as other insects, and some reptiles. In the stomach of 
our specimen, however, Mr. Peale found, besides the usual food, 
fragments of an Jlrvicola hispidus, and one or two feathers appa¬ 
rently of a Sparrow: but it is not a cowardly bird, as might be 
suspected from its affinity to the Kites, and from its insignificant 
prey, since it successfully attacks Crows, Shrikes, and even the 
more timid birds of its own genus, compelling them to quit its 
favourite haunts, which it guards with a vigilant eye. They build 
in the bifurcation of trees. The nest is broad and shallow, lined 
internally with moss and feathers. The female is stated to lay 
four or five eggs; the nestlings at first are covered with down 
of a reddish-gray colour. 
The African species is said to diffuse a musky odour, which is 
retained even after the skin is prepared for the Museum: but we 
are inclined to believe, that it is in the latter state only that it 
possesses this quality. Mr. Peale did not observe any such odour 
in the bird he shot, but being obliged, for want of better food, to 
make his dinner of it in the woods, found it not unpalatable. 
