of twenty, thirty, or even so many as forty individuals, and appearing
to be migrating, as they passed along at a height of fifty or sixty
yards, without paying any attention to the objects below; but on all
these occasions I could never find that they were bent on any general
course more than another; as some days a flock would be proceeding
southward, on the next to the northward or eastward. Many times I have
seen them follow the grassy margins of our great streams, such as the
Ohio and Mississippi, at the approach of winter, as if bent on going
southward, but have become assured that they were merely attracted by
the vast multitudes of Finches or Sparrows of various sorts which are
then advancing in that direction.
In winter, the notes which the Marsh Hawk emits while on wing, are
sharp, and sound like the syllables _pee_, _pee_, _pee_, the first
slightly pronounced, the last louder, much prolonged, and ending
plaintively. During the love-season, its cry more resembles that of
our Pigeon Hawk; especially when the males meet, they being apparently
tenacious of their assumed right to a certain locality, as well as to
the female of their choice.
The Marsh Hawk breeds in many parts of the United States, as well as
beyond our limits to the north and south in which it finds a place
suited to its habits; as is the case with the Blue-winged Teal, and
several other species, which have until now been supposed to retreat
to high latitudes for the purpose. That many make choice of the more
northern regions, and return southward in autumn, is quite certain; but
in all probability an equal number remain within the confines of the
United States to breed.
It is by no means restricted to the low lands of the sea-shores
during the breeding season, for I have found its nest in the Barrens
of Kentucky, and even on the cleared table-lands of the Alleghany
Mountains and their spurs. In one instance, I found it in the
high-covered pine-barrens of the Floridas, although I have never seen
one on a tree; and the few cases of its nest having been placed on low
trees or bushes, may have been caused by the presence of dangerous
quadrupeds, or their having been more than once disturbed or robbed
of their eggs or young, when their former nests had been placed on the
ground.
Many birds of this species breed before they have obtained their
full plumage. I have several times found a male bird in brown plumage
paired with a female which had eggs; but such a circumstance is not
singular, for the like occurs in many species of different families.
I have never met with a nest in situations like those described by
some European writers as those in which the Hen-harrier breeds; but
usually on level parts of the country, or flat pieces of land that are
sometimes met with in hilly districts. As I am well aware, however,
that birds adapt the place and even the form and materials of their
nests to circumstances, I cannot admit that such a difference is by any
means sufficient to prove that birds similar in all other respects, are
really different from each other. If it be correct, as has been stated,
that the male of the European bird deserts the female, as soon as
incubation commences, this indeed would form a decided difference; but
as such a habit has not been observed in any other Hawk, it requires
to be confirmed. Our Marsh Hawks, after being paired, invariably keep
together, and labour conjointly for the support of their family, until
the young are left to shift for themselves. This is equally the case
with every Hawk with which I am acquainted.
Having considerable doubts as to whether any American writer who
has spoken of the Marsh Hawk ever saw one of its nests, I will here
describe one found on Galveston Island by my son JOHN WOODHOUSE, and
carefully examined by him as well as by my friend EDWARD HARRIS and
myself. As is usually the case when in a low and flat district, this
was placed about a hundred yards from a pond, on the ground, upon a
broom-sedge ridge, about two feet above the level of the surrounding
salt marsh. It was made of dry grass, and measured between seven and
eight inches in its internal diameter, with a depth of two inches and
a half, while its external diameter was twelve inches. The grass was
pretty regularly and compactly disposed, especially in the interior,
on which much care seemed to have been bestowed. No feathers or other
materials had been used in its construction, not even a twig. The
eggs were four, smooth, considerably rounded, or broadly elliptical,
bluish-white, an inch and three-quarters in length, an inch and a
quarter in breadth. The two birds were procured, and their measurements
carefully entered in my journal, as well as those of others obtained
in various parts of the United States and of the British Provinces. A
nest found on the Alleghanies was placed under a low bush, in an open
spot of scarcely half an acre. It was constructed in the same manner,
as the one described above, but was more bulky, the bed being about
four inches from the earth. The eggs, although of the same form and
colour, were slightly sprinkled with small marks of pale reddish-brown.
In general, the Marsh Hawks scoop the ground, for the purpose of fixing
their nest to the spot. On returning to London, in the summer of 1837,
I shewed several of the eggs of the American bird to WILLIAM YARBELL,
Esq. who at once pronounced them to belong to the Hen Harrier; and on
comparing their measurements with those of the eggs described by my
friend WILLIAM MACGILLIVRAY, I find that they agree perfectly.
The young are at first covered with soft yellowish-white down, but in
a few weeks shew the brownish and ferruginous tints of their female
parent, the young males being distinguishable from the females by their
smaller size.
I have found a greater number of barren females in this species than
in any other; and to this I in part attribute their predominance over
the males. The food of the Marsh Hawk consists of insects of various
kinds, especially crickets, of small lizards, frogs, snakes, birds,
principally the smaller sorts, although it will attack Partridges,
Plovers, and even Green-winged Teals, when urged by excessive hunger.
The only instance in which I have seen this bird carry any prey in its
talons on wing, happened on the 2d of April 1837, at the south-west
Pass of the Mississippi, when I was in company with EDWARD HARRIS, Esq.
and my son JOHN WOODHOUSE. A Marsh Hawk was seen to seize a bird on its
nest, perhaps a Marsh Wren, _Troglodytes palustris_, and carry it off
in its talons with the nest! A pair were hovering over the marsh during
the whole of our stay, and probably had a nest thereabout. It is rather
a cowardly bird, however, for on several occasions, when I was in the
Floridas, where it is abundant, I saw it chase a Salt-water Marsh Hen,
_Rallus crepitans_, which courageously sprung up, and striking at its
enemy, forced it off. My friend JOHN BACHMAN has frequently observed
similar occurrence in the neighbourhood of Charleston. Whenever it
seizes a bird on wing, it almost at once drops to the ground with
it, and if in an exposed place, hops off with its prey to the nearest
concealment.
In autumn, after the young have left their parents, they hunt in packs.
This I observed on several occasions when on my way back from Labrador.
In Nova Scotia, on the 27th of August, we procured nearly a whole pack,
by concealing ourselves, but did not see an adult male. These birds
are fond of searching for prey over the same fields, removing from
one plantation to another, and returning with a remarkable degree of
regularity, and this apparently for a whole season, if not a longer
period. My friend JOHN BACHMAN observed a beautiful old male which had
one of its primaries cut short by a shot, regularly return to the same
rice-field during the whole of the autumn and winter, and believes
that the same individual revisits the same spot annually. When satiated
with food, the Marsh Hawk may be seen perched on a fence-stake for more
than an hour, standing motionless. On horseback I have approached them
on such occasions near enough to see the colour of their eyes, before
they would reluctantly open their wings, and remove to another stake
not far distant, where they would probably remain until digestion was
accomplished.
I have never seen this species searching for food in the dusk. Indeed,
in our latitudes, when the orb of day has withdrawn from our sight, the
twilight is so short, and the necessity of providing a place of safety
for the night so imperious in birds that are not altogether nocturnal,
that I doubt whether the Marsh Hawk, which has perhaps been on wing the
greater part of the day, and has had many opportunities of procuring
food, would continue its flight for the sake of the scanty fare which
it might perchance procure at a time when few birds are abroad, and
when quadrupeds only are awakening from their daily slumber.
WILSON must have been misinformed by some one unacquainted with the
arrival and departure of this species, as well as of the Rice Bird,
in South Carolina, when he was induced to say that the Marsh Hawk “is
particularly serviceable to the rice-fields of the Southern States, by
the havoc it makes among the clouds of Rice Buntings that spread such
devastation among the grain, in its early stages. As it sails low,
and swiftly, over the surface of the field, it keeps the flocks in
perpetual fluctuation, and greatly interrupts their depredations. The
planters consider one Marsh Hawk to be equal to several Negroes for
alarming the Rice Birds.” Now, good Reader, my friend JOHN BACHMAN,
who has resided more than twenty years in South Carolina, and who is
a constant student of nature, and perhaps more especially attentive to
the habits of birds, informs me that the Marsh Hawk is proportionally
rare in that State, and that it only makes its appearance there _after_
the Rice Birds have left the country for the south, and retires at the
approach of spring, _before_ they have arrived.
European writers have generally considered our Marsh Hawk as larger
than their _Circus cyaneus_; but this opinion must have originated from
a want of specimens for comparison, and perhaps also a want of books
on which one might depend. Were all ornithological works characterized
by the accuracy and detail to be found in those of my friend WILLIAM
MACGILLIVRAY, the case might be different. The measurements which he
has taken from recent specimens correspond with those which I also
have taken from individuals newly killed, as nearly as is usual in
birds of other species. Indeed, should you measure as accurately as
possible a hundred specimens of any bird as large as our Marsh Hawk,
I am persuaded you would not find many of them to agree in all their
proportions. Instead of the American exceeding the European bird in
size, I think it will generally be found to be as nearly equal as
possible.
FALCO CYANEUS and F. PYGARGUS, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p.
126.
FALCO CYANEUS, _Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 39.—_Ch.
Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 33.
MARSH HAWK, FALCO ULIGINOSUS, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. vi.
p. 67, pl. 1, fig. 1., young female.
FALCO CYANEUS, _Ch. Bonaparte_; Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 30,
pl. xi. fig. 1., male.
BUTEO (CIRCUS) CYANEUS ? VAR ? AMERICANUS, AMERICAN
HEN-HARRIER, _Richards. and Swains._ Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol.
ii. p. 55.
HEN-HARRIER, or MARSH HAWK, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p.
109.
Adult Male. Plate CCCLVI. Fig. 1.
Bill short, compressed. Upper mandible with its dorsal line a little
tumid at the base, sloping to beyond the cere, then decurved in
the fourth of a circle, the sides sloping, towards the end a little
convex, the edge with a festoon a little anterior to the nostril, the
tip acute, concave beneath. Lower mandible with the angle broad, the
dorsal line ascending and convex, the edges a little inflected, the tip
rounded, with the edges decurved. Nostrils large, ovato-oblong, in the
middle and fore part of the cere, and having an oblique ridge from the
upper edge.
Head of moderate size, oblong; neck short; body slender, much
compressed behind. Legs long and slender; tibia long but muscular;
tarsi long, compressed, with seventeen or eighteen large oblique
scutella on the fore and outer side, oval or subhexagonal scales
on the sides, and scutella behind, excepting at the upper and lower
parts; toes small, slender, the outer with a short web at the base,
connecting it with the third; first considerably shorter than second,
fourth a little longer than the latter, third much longer; all covered
above with scutella, unless at the base, where there are small scales,
beneath tuberculate and papillate, there being a long fleshy tubercle
on the last joint of each toe, and one on the next joint of the two
outer. Claws long, compressed, rounded above, flat beneath, curved into
the fourth of a circle, those of the first and second toes largest,
that of the third with a slight internal edge, of the fourth much
smaller and less curved.
Plumage very soft, generally blended. Cere covered on the sides with
rather long bristle-tipped feathers, which curve upwards and partially
conceal the nostrils; space between the bill and eye with radiating
feathers of the same nature. A distinct ruff of narrow feathers, which
are decurved, but with the tips recurved, extends from behind the
eye on each side to the chin. Wings long, much rounded; the fourth
quill longest, the third two-twelfths of an inch shorter, the second a
quarter of an inch shorter than the fifth, the first and seventh about
equal. The outer webs of the first five are attenuated towards the
end; and the outer four have their inner webs sinuate; the secondaries
are broad and rounded. Tail straight, long, of moderate breadth, and
slightly rounded, the middle feathers longest (in perfect specimens,
but often worn). The quills and tail-feathers are extremely soft, being
covered with a velvety down.
Bill bluish-black, cere yellow; inside of mouth dark bluish-grey. Iris
yellow. Tarsi and toes yellow, tinged with orange; claws black. The
general colour of the plumage above is light greyish-blue, the head and
scapulars of a deeper tint, the hind part of the back paler; the bases
of the occipital and ruff feathers white; the bristles of the cere and
lores black, their downy bases white. The fore neck and anterior part
of the breast are also greyish-blue; the middle of the breast and the
sides white, tinged with blue, the feathers having their shafts dusky,
and some very faint indications of bars; those of the legs, the lower
wing-coverts, and lower and upper tail-coverts, pure white. The seven
outer primaries are black, tipped with pale brown at the base white,
and on the outer edge tinged with grey; the rest and the secondaries of
the general colour, but with more or less brown towards the end, their
inner webs white, and obscurely barred with dark grey. The two middle
tail-feathers are of a lighter tint than the back, and the colour on
the outer webs of the rest gradually fades into white; the inner webs
of all but the two middle more or less white, with eight irregular
narrow bars of darkish grey.
Length to end of tail 19-3/4 inches, to end of wings 16-1/2, to end
of claws 16-1/2; extent of wings 44; wing from flexure 14-4/12; tail
8-9/12; bill along the ridge 1-2/12, along the edge of lower mandible
1-2/12; tarsus 2-8/12; hind toe (7-1/2)/12, its claw 10/12; middle toe
1-(2-1/2)/12, its claw (8-1/2)/12. Weight 16 oz.
Adult Female. Plate CCCLVI. Fig. 2.
The female is larger than the male, and differs extremely in the
colours of the plumage, although those of the bare parts are the
same. The general colour of the upper parts is umber-brown, of
the lower light yellowish-red. The upper part of the head is deep
brown, the feathers edged with light yellowish-red; the anterior
part of the forehead, a band over the eye, and the loral space,
pale greyish-yellow, the bristle-tips of the latter black. The cheek
feathers are dull brown, slightly edged with yellowish-red; the ruff
feathers light yellowish-red, with a narrow brown central band. The
upper hind part, sides, and fore part of the neck, the breast and
sides, are light reddish-yellow, each feather with an oblong-lanceolate
umber-brown mark. Some of the hypochondrial feathers have four
light spots; the central part of the outer tibial feathers is light
brownish-red; the feathers of the middle of the breast, the abdomen,
and the lower tail-coverts, are of a uniform light yellowish-red. On
some of the scapulars, as well as many of the wing-coverts, are one or
two round light red or whitish spots; and the bases of the occipital
feathers are white. The primary and secondary quills are of the same
colour as the back, slightly edged with paler, the greater part of the
inner webs whitish, the primaries with broad bands of deeper brown.
Upper tail-coverts white. Tail light greyish-brown, white at the base,
with six broad bands of deep brown on the middle feathers, four on
the lateral, the last band much larger, the tips brownish or reddish
white, the inner webs, excepting the two middle feathers, reddish-grey
or whitish, the shafts light brown. Lower wing-coverts reddish-white,
with central lanceolate brown markings: lower surface of primary quills
greyish-white, with very conspicuous broad blackish-brown bands; tail
reddish-grey beneath, with the dark bands more distinct.
Length to end of tail 20-1/2 inches, to end of wings 18-3/4, to end of
claws 15-3/4: extent of wings 46-3/8: wing from flexure 15-1/4: tail
9-10/12; bill along the ridge 1-3/12, along the edge of lower mandible
1-2/12; tarsus 3-2/12; hind toe 10/12, its claw 1-2/12; middle toe
1-1/2, its claw 10/12.
Young fully fledged. Plate CCCLVI. Fig. 3.
The young of both sexes when fully fledged, resemble the adult female,
but have the colours of a richer or deeper tint; all the lower parts
with an elongated brown streak on each feather; the upper tail-coverts
white, with a lanceolate reddish-brown spot.
After the first moult, the male still resembles the adult female.
At least, such is the case with a specimen presented to me by Dr
RICHARDSON, and marked “_Buteo (Circus) cyaneus_. Spec. N. 6. Male.
May 31. 1826. Fort Franklin,” being the one elaborately described at
p. 63 of the second volume of the _Fauna Boreali-Americana_. In this
specimen the colours are much faded, and the feathers worn, the upper
tail-coverts in particular being reduced almost to the shafts. It is
valuable as indicating by two feathers on the leg, which are new, the
next state of plumage of the male, which is as follows:—
The upper part of the head and the hind neck are light brownish-red,
with dusky streaks, the white of the nuchal feathers conspicuous.
The upper parts are brown, with a tinge of grey, more apparent on the
wings, the scapulars and some of the smaller wing-coverts still marked
as in the young and females; the upper tail-coverts pure white; the
tail-feathers grey, with a tinge of brown, the lateral reddish-grey;
the dark bars much diminished in breadth, and the inner webs still
tinged with yellowish-red. The ruff is brownish-grey, margined with
reddish-white; the fore part of the neck and breast pale brownish-red,
tinged with grey, each feather marginally spotted or edged with dull
white. The rest of the lower parts are white, the feathers generally
with several spots of light red along the centre; these spots assuming
the appearance of transverse bars on the sides and legs; the smaller
wing coverts are similarly spotted, but those near the edge have only
a dusky streak, and the secondary coverts are barred with dusky. The
inner webs of the quills toward the base are white, with narrow bars
of brownish-black, and the extremities of the primaries are as in the
adult.
After a very careful comparison of seven skins of American birds with
an equal number of European, no essential differences can be observed.
I am therefore compelled to conclude, that the Marsh Hawk of America is
the Hen-Harrier of Europe. The following measurements are obtained from
a comparison of eight individuals.
Amer.
M. M.
Length to end of tail, 19-3/4 16-1/2
wings, 16-1/2 14-1/2
Extent of wings, 44 40-1/2
Wing from flexure, 14-4/12 13
Tail, 8-9/12 8-7/12
Bill along the ridge, 1-2/12 1-(1-1/2)/12
Tarsus, 2-8/12 2-9/12
Hind toe, (7-1/2)/12 (7-1/2)/12
Its claw, 10/12 (10-1/2)/12
Middle toe, 1-(2-1/2)/12 1-(2-1/2)/12
Its claw, (8-1/2)/12 (8-1/2)/12
Anterior tarsal scutella, 17 18
Scutella on first toe, 7 6
second, 5 5
third, 16 17
fourth, 7 8
Europ.
M. M.
Length to end of tail, 18 18-1/4
wings, 15-3/4 —
Extent of wings, 40 39-1/2
Wing from flexure, 13-1/2 13
Tail, 9 8-1/2
Bill along the ridge, 1-1/12 1-1/12
Tarsus, 2-1/2 2-8/12
Hind toe, 8/12 7/12
Its claw, 9/12 (9-1/2)/12
Middle toe, 1-1/2 1-2/12
Its claw, 8/12 (8-1/2)/12
Anterior tarsal scutella, 18 15
Scutella on first toe, 6 6
second, 5 5
third, 18 15
fourth, 7 7
Amer.
F. F.
Length to end of tail, 20-1/2 20-1/4
wings, 18-3/4 18-1/2
Extent of wings, 46-3/8 45-1/2
Wing from flexure, 15-1/4 14-9/12
Tail, 9-10/12 9-9/12
Bill along the ridge, 1-3/12 1-3/12
Tarsus, 3-2/12 3-2/12
Hind toe, 10/12 (7-1/2)/12
Its claw, 1-2/12 1
Middle toe, 1-1/2 1-4/12
Its claw, 10/12 (9-1/2)/12
Anterior tarsal scutella, 19 17
Scutella on first toe, 7 5
second, 5 5
third, 16 16
fourth, 8 7
Europ.
F. F.
Length to end of tail, 21 21
wings, 18-1/2 19
Extent of wings, 46 46
Wing from flexure, 14-1/4 15-1/4
Tail, 9-9/12 10
Bill along the ridge, 1-2/12 1-3/12
Tarsus, 2-9/12 2-9/12
Hind toe, (7-1/2)/12 9/12
Its claw, 1-1/12 11/12
Middle toe, 1-4/12 1-5/12
Its claw, 10/12 11/12
Anterior tarsal scutella, 18 —
Scutella on first toe, 6 —
second, 5 —
third, 17 —
fourth, 8 —
If measurements of this kind are calculated to throw light on the
subject, the collectors of skins are welcome to the above, which have
been made with as much accuracy as possible.
An adult male examined. On the roof of the mouth are two lateral and
a median prominent ridge, the intervening space covered with small
papillæ. The posterior aperture of the nares is oblong, 4 twelfths of
an inch in length, but with an anterior slit 7-1/2 twelfths long. The
tongue, a, is 8-1/2 twelfths long, fleshy, emarginate and papillate
at the base, concave above, rounded and slightly emarginate at the
tip. The mouth is 1 inch in breadth. The œsophagus, _a b c d e_,
which is 6 inches long, is very wide, with very thin parietes, and
on the lower part of the neck is dilated into a sac or crop, _b c_,
which on being distended has a diameter of 2 inches at the widest
part. It then contracts to 10 twelfths as it enters the thorax; its
proventricular portion, _d e_, has a diameter of 1 inch. The stomach,
_e f g_ is roundish, 1-1/2 inch in diameter, somewhat compressed; its
muscular coat extremely thin, being reduced to small parallel fasciculi
converging toward two tendinous spaces of an elliptical form, and about
half an inch long. The intestine, _g h_, is 3 feet 2 inches long; its
diameter at the upper part 3 twelfths, towards the cœca 2 twelfths. The
rectum, _i j_, is 2 inches long, not including the cloaca, _j_, which
is globular and 1 inch in diameter. The cœca are extremely small, being
2-1/4 twelfths long, and 1 twelfth in diameter. The pylorus has no
valve properly so called, but two ridges run from it into the intestine
to the length of about 3 twelfths of an inch. The gall-bladder is 7
twelfths long and 4 twelfths in breadth.
[Illustration]
In a very small male, the œsophagus is 4-3/4 inches long; the intestine
3 feet 4 inches. In a female, the intestine is 3 feet 9 inches long.
The trachea is 4-8/12 inches long, flattened. 4-1/4 twelfths broad at
the upper part, gradually contracting to 2-3/4 twelfths; its rings 95,
extremely thin and unossified. The bronchi are of moderate length, with
about 20 half-rings. The lateral muscles are thin, the sterno-tracheal
slender.
THE COMMON MAGPIE.
_CORVUS PICA_, LINN.
PLATE CCCLVII. MALE AND FEMALE.