National Museum, 9; Philadelphia Academy, 3; New York Museum, 4
(Brazil); Boston Society, 1; Cambridge Museum, 2; Cab. G. N. Lawrence,
3; Coll. R. Ridgway, 1. Total, 23.
[Illustration: _Nauclerus forficatus._]
HABITS. The Swallow-tailed Hawk has an extended distribution in the
eastern portion of North America. It is irregularly distributed; in
a large part of the country it occurs only occasionally and in small
numbers, and is probably nowhere abundant except in the southwestern
Gulf States, or along the rivers and inland waters. On the Atlantic
coast it has been traced, according to Mr. Lawrence, as far north as
New York City. According to Mr. Nuttall, individuals have been seen
on the Mississippi as far as St. Anthony’s Falls, in latitude 44°.
It is found more or less common along the tributaries of the Ohio
and Mississippi, where it is essentially a prairie bird, and breeds
in Southern Wisconsin, in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, and throughout
Illinois. It has been taken in Cuba, and occasionally also in Jamaica.
It is found in Central America, and in South America to Northern Brazil,
Buenos Ayres, and, according to Vieillot, to Peru. It nests in South
Carolina and in all the States that border on the Gulf of Mexico,
frequenting the banks of rivers, but is not found near the seaboard.
Mr. Thure Kumlien noticed a pair of these Hawks in the neighborhood of
Fort Atkinson, Wis., in the summer of 1854, and had no doubt they were
breeding, though he was not able to find their nest.
Mr. Osbert Salvin, in a letter from San Geronimo, in the Vera Paz (Ibis,
1860, p. 195), states that he has positive information that this Hawk
breeds in the mountains about Coban, his chief collector having found a
nest there with young the previous year. Specimens had been before that
received by Mr. Sclater, forwarded by Mr. Skinner, from the neighborhood
of Cajabon, Guatemala. It was said to be more numerous at Belize.
Mr. Dresser informs us that he was so fortunate as to find this graceful
bird very abundant in some parts of Texas, and he had a good opportunity
of observing and admiring it in its true home. It was occasional about
San Antonio de Bexar, where it was usually seen late in July before
heavy rains. Near the Rio Grande or in Texas he did not see it at all.
At Peach Creek and near Gonzales he found it not unfrequent; and on
the Colorado, Brazos, and Trinity Rivers it was one of the most common
birds. It only remains there during the summer months, arriving early
in April, and breeding later than the other birds of prey. On the 26th
of May he found them very abundant on a creek near the Colorado, but
none had commenced breeding. They were preparing their nests; and, from
the number he saw about one large grove, he judged that they breed in
society. On his wounding one of them, the rest came flying over his head
in the manner of Seagulls, uttering harsh cries; and he counted forty or
fifty over him at one time. He was informed that these Kites build high
up in oak, sycamore, or cottonwood trees, sometimes quite far from the
creeks.
Mr. Dresser describes this bird as exhibiting a singularly pleasing
appearance on the wing, gliding in large circles, without apparent
effort, in very rapid flight. The tail is widely spread, and when
sailing in circles the wings are almost motionless. One was noticed
as it was hunting after grasshoppers. It went over the ground as
carefully as a well-trained pointer, every now and then stooping to
pick up a grasshopper, the feet and bill seeming to touch the insect
simultaneously. They were very fond of wasp grubs, and would carry a
nest to a high perch, hold it in one claw, and sit there picking out the
grubs. Their stomachs were found to contain beetles and grasshoppers.
Dr. Woodhouse speaks of this Hawk as common in Texas, and also in the
country of the Creek and Cherokee nations. He confirms the accounts
which have been received of its fondness for the neighborhood of
streams, and adds that along the Arkansas and its tributaries it was
very abundant.
Mr. Ridgway states that this Hawk arrives in Richland County, Ill., in
May, and lives during the summer on the small prairies, feeding there
upon small snakes, particularly the little green snake (_Leptophis
æstivus_) and the different species of _Eutænia_. It builds its
nest there among the oak or hickory trees which border the streams
intersecting the prairies. Towards the latter part of summer it becomes
very abundant on the prairies, being attracted by the abundance of
food, which at that season consists very largely of insects, especially
_Neuroptera_. It is most abundant in August, and in bright weather
dozens of them may be seen at a time sailing round in pursuit of
insects.
Mr. Audubon speaks of the movements of this bird in flight as
astonishingly rapid, the deep curves they describe, their sudden
doublings and crossings, and the extreme ease with which they seem
to cleave the air, never failing to excite admiration. In the States
of Louisiana and Mississippi, where, he adds, these birds are very
abundant, they arrive in large companies in the beginning of April, and
utter a sharp and plaintive note. They all come from the westward; and
he has counted upwards of a hundred, in the space of an hour, passing
over him in an easterly direction. They feed on the wing, and their
principal food is said to be grasshoppers, caterpillars, small snakes,
lizards, and frogs. They sweep over the fields, and seem to alight for
a moment to secure a snake or some other object. They also frequent the
creeks, to pick up water-snakes basking on the floating logs.
On the ground their movements are said to be awkward in the extreme.
When wounded, they rarely strike with their talons, or offer serious
resistance. They never attack other birds or quadrupeds to prey upon
them.
This Hawk is a great wanderer, and a number of instances are on record
of its having been taken in Europe. One of these was in Scotland, in
1772; another in England, in 1805.
Mr. R. Owen (Ibis, 1860, p. 241), while travelling from Coban to San
Geronimo, in Guatemala, among the mountains, came suddenly upon a large
flock of two or three hundred of these Hawks, which were pursuing and
preying upon a swarm of bees. At times they passed within four or five
yards of him. Every now and then the neck was observed to be bent slowly
and gracefully, bringing the head quite under the body. At the same time
the foot, with the talons contracted as if grasping some object, would
be brought forward to meet the beak. The beak was then seen to open and
to close again, and then the head was again raised and the foot thrown
back. This movement was repeatedly observed, and it was quite clear to
him that the birds were preying upon the bees.
This Hawk constructs its nest on tall trees, usually overhanging or
near running water. The nest is like that of the Crow in its general
appearance. It is constructed externally of dry twigs and sticks,
intermixed with which are great quantities of the long Spanish moss
peculiar to the Southern States, and lined with dry grasses, leaves, and
feathers. One found by Dr. C. Kollock, of Cheraw, S. C., in May, 1855,
containing young, was on a large tree, not near the trunk, but on one of
the projecting branches, and difficult of approach.
The eggs are described by Mr. Audubon as from four to six in number,
of a greenish-white color, with a few irregular blotches of dark brown
at the larger end. The drawing of an egg, obtained by Dr. Trudeau
in Louisiana, and which was made by that gentleman, is very nearly
spheroidal, and its measurements are, length 1.75 inches, breadth 1.56.
It corresponds with Mr. Audubon’s description of the egg of this Hawk.
An egg in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, taken in Iowa
by Mr. Krider, does not correspond very well with the description and
figure mentioned. It measures 1.80 in length by 1.40 in breadth; its
form is very regularly oval, both ends being of nearly the same shape.
The ground-color is a creamy white, one end (the smaller) splashed
with large confluent blotches of ferruginous, and the remainder of the
surface more sparsely spotted with the same; these rusty blotches are
relieved by smaller, sparser spots of very dark brown.
Dr. Cooper, in a letter dated Sioux City, May 21, 1860, mentions finding
the nest of this Hawk in a high tree in Northwestern Iowa, latitude 41°
30′. The bird had not begun to lay.