193 FALCUNS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC.

white patch on its rump. Quartering the. country with slow, vacillating flight, it usually captures its living prey by surprising it away from its retreats.

’l‘he Harrier is a low—perehiug Hawk, and most frequently will be seen alighting on a slight elevation or in the grass. During the nesting season the male may be seen endeavoring to win the admira- tion of the principal spectator by performing a number of extraor- dinary aerial evolutions. Sometimes he soars to a great height, then falls straight downward nearly to the ground, turning seve‘al somersauits during the descent, and uttering at the same time a. re- iterated screeching. At other times he flies across the marsh in a course which would outline a gigantic saw, each of the descending parts being done iua somersault and accompanied by the screeching notes, which form the only love song within the range of his limited vocal pO\\'Ul'S.—ER.\' E. THOMPSON.

"Of 124 stomachs examined, ’7 contained poultry, or game birds; 3-1, other birds; 57, mice; 22, other mammals; T, reptile:; 2, frogs; 14, insects; 1, indeterminate matter, and 8 were empty ” (Fisher).

332. Accipiter velox (’ 1171M. SIiARr—siltxxEn lIA\\’K. girl—Upper parts: slaty gruy;pr£nu_zrics barred will: bim'l'ish; tail nearly square, ashy gray. with blackish cross—bars and a whit~ ish tip; throat white. streaked with black— ish: rest of under parts barred with white and ocliraeeous»butl' or pale rufous. Int.— ['pper parts t'uscous, margincd with rut‘ous; primaries and tail much as in the ad.; un— der parts white or butfy white, streaked or spotted with blackish or pale rufous—brown. 6 11.,11‘25; \V., 6‘60; T., 5‘50; B. from N., '40. <2 14..13'50; “K, 800; T.. 7'00.

Jz’emarl‘ainis species very closely re— sembles (Lleoper‘s Hawk. In adult plumage Fm. (iii—Square tail of Sharp- the black cap characterizes that species, but

shinued Hawk. immature birds may be distinguished only by size and the ditterence in the shape of

the tail, which in rv-Iow is nearly square. and in cooper; decidedly rounded. Jung/(r.filiret-tls thrnugheut the l'nitcd States, and winters from Massa— chusetts to ('vntral America. Washington. common 1’. R. Sing Sing. common R R. Cambridge, com- mon T. V., Apl. 15 to Apl. 30: Sept. and (let: rare S. l’., uncommon W. V. fuel, in trees. fifteen to forty feet from the ground. [flay/s, three to six, varyingr t'runi bluish white to pale t‘l‘t‘zllllslnlil'. distinctly spotted, llL‘lH'lly blotchcd, or even washed with chocolate or (-innanion—rut‘ous, 1-55 x 1'20.

The generally misapplied names “Hen Hawk” and “Chicken Hawk " should be restricted to the birds of this genus, for they de-