.
_Range._ Southern United States, north to South
Carolina, and southern Indiana; winters chiefly
south of the United States and returns in April.
A low-flying hunter of insects, snakes and frogs. It migrates in loose
flocks sometimes near the earth, at others far above it. The nest is
placed in tall trees. The eggs are laid in May; they number 1-3, and are
dull white, occasionally with a bluish tinge.
EVERGLADE KITE
_Rostrhamus sociabilis_
A dark slate-colored bird with a white rump and a
rather slender hooked bill. The young are quite
different; black above, tipped with reddish brown,
below mottled and barred with black, reddish brown
and buff, but with the white rump-patch of the
adult. L. 18.
_Range._ Tropical America north to southern
Florida.
The Everglade Kite is found in marshes and about lakes and ponds hunting
for its favorite food of large snails, which it extracts from their
shells by means of its hooked bill. It is rarely seen north of southern
Florida. The nest is placed in bushes or among reeds. The 2-3 eggs,
which are heavily marked with brown, are laid in March.
MARSH HAWK
_Circus hudsonius. Case 3, Fig. 15_
The immature bird and adult female are dark brown
above, reddish brown below, but, in any plumage,
the species may be known by the white upper
tail-coverts which show clearly in flight. L.,
male, 19; female, 22.
_Range._ North America, wintering from New Jersey
southward; migrates northward in March.
Washington, common W.V., July-Apl. Ossining,
tolerably common S.R., Mch. 6-Oct. 30; a few
winter. Cambridge, common T.V., Mch. 20-Nov. 10,
one breeding record. N. Ohio, not common S.R.,
Mch. 5-Nov. 30. Glen Ellyn, S.R., several pairs,
Apl. 4-Nov. 6. SE. Minn., common S.R., Mch. 6-Nov.
1.
The Marsh Hawk quarters low over the fields turning sharply here and
there to follow the course of a meadow mouse in the grass forest below.
As a rule the bird is silent but in the mating season he repeats a
'screeching' note. The nest is made on the ground in the marshes; the
4-6 white eggs are laid in May.
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK
_Accipiter velox. Case 1, Figs. 11, 12; Case 3, Figs. 7, 8_
The sexes differ only in size, th
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