MARSH HAWK. AL] 
tions a specimen of kirtlandi, both of which were taken in the vicinity 
of Cleveland. 
The nest of the Acadian Owl is placed in holes of trees, and the eggs, 
pure white, globular, measure 1.13 by .87. Dr. Brewer says, “‘ it has been 
said to breed near Cleveland, Ohio, and its nest and eggs have been se- 
cured.” 
FAMILY FALCONIDA. DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 
With the characters given in the first paragraph of the definition of Family Strigida, 
but constrasting with the second paragraph of that definition as follows: 
Physiognomy not peculiar in any lateral expansion of the eranium; the eyes lateral 
in direction. No complete facial disc; base’ of bill not hidden by appressed bristles. 
Nosixils wholly in the cere. Outer toe rarely versatile, except Pandion, ete. ; not shorter 
than the inner. Basal phalanx of middle toe longer than the sedend. Legs commonly 
naked and scutellate or reticulate in some portion of their length; toes always bare 
and scaly. Plumage compact, usually with after-shafts; flight audible. Cranial walls 
with little dipicé. Sternum commonly single-notched or fenestrate, sometimes entire. 
Diurnal. . 
GENUS CIRCUS. Lacepede. 
Face with a raft forming an imperfect facial disc, as in the ow]s; nostrils oval; wings, 
tail and tarsi very long, the latter twice as long as the middle toe, scutellate in front and 
behind. 
Circus cyaNgEvus (L) Lacép. 
var. HUDSONIUS (L.) All. 
Marsh Hawk; Harrier. 
Falco cyaneus, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 161, 178. 
Circus hudsonius, KIRKPATRICK, Ohic Farmer, vii, 1858, 395; Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1858, 
361.—WHEATON, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1860, 361; Reprint, 1861, 3. 
Circus cyanews, var. hudsonius, WHEATON, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 
570; Reprint, 1875, 10 —Lanapon, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 12; Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. 
Hist., i, 1878, 115; Reprint, 6; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Sec. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 
180; Reprint, 14. 
- Falco cyaneus, LINNZUS, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 126. 
Falco hudsonius, LINN&US, Syst. Nat., i, 1776, 128. 
Circus hudsonius, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept., i, 1807, 36. 
Cireus cyaneus, var. hudsonius, ALLEN, Bull. M. Z. C., 1872, 181. 
Adult male pale bluish-ash, nearly unvaried, whitening below and on upper tail 
coverts; quills blackish towards the end. Length, 16-18; wing, 14-15; tail, 8-9; fe- 
male larger, above dark-brown streaked with reddish-brown, below the reverse of this; 
tail banded with these colors; immature male is like the female though redder, but in 
any plumage the bird is known by its white upper-tail-coverts and generic characters. 
Habitat, Europe, Asia. Var. hudsonius throughout North America. Var. cinereus in 
South America. | 
Common and resident in some portions of the State, rare and migrant 
in others. Dr. Kirtland, in 1838, had not met with this bird but named 
27 
