MARSH HAWK
331. Circus hudsonius. 19 in.
Upper tail coverts and base of tail white. Male, blue-gray above; below, whitish, streaked and barred with rusty. Female and young.—Above rusty brownish-black; below rusty with dusky streaks on the breast and sides. As shown by its name, this hawk is found most abundantly in or around marshes or wet meadows. I have found them especially abundant in boggy marshes such as frequented by bitterns. Their flight is quiet and owl-like, and as they do most of their feeding toward dusk, they often seem like owls as they flit by without a sound. Their food is composed chiefly of meadow mice and moles, which they spy and dash down upon as they fly at low elevations.
Notes.—A shrill whistle when their nest is approached.
Nest.—Of grasses, on the ground in marshes; four plain bluish-white eggs (1.80 × 1.40); May, June.
Range.—Breeds locally in the whole of the United States and Canada, north to Hudson Bay; winters in the southern half of the United States.
