IV. SUB-FAMILY MILVINÆ. THE KITES.
Size various, usually medium or small. Bill short, weak, hooked, and acute; wings and tail usually long; tarsi and feet slender, frequently short. The birds of this sub-family habitually feed on reptiles and other small animals, and are deficient in the strength and courage of those of the other sub-families. About thirty-five species of all countries belong to this group.
I. GENUS NAUCLERUS. Vigors, Zool. Jour., II. p. 386. (1825.)
CHELIDOPTERYX. Kaup, Class., p. 112. (1844.)
Bill short and weak; wings and tail very long, the former pointed, the latter deeply forked. Tarsi very short; toes short. Contains not more than three species, two of which are American, and the other African.
1. Nauclerus furcatus. (Linn.) The Swallow-tailed Hawk. Falco furcatus. Linn., Syst. Nat., I. p. 129. (1766.)
Cat. Car, pl. 4; Buff., Pl. Enl., 72; Wilson, Am. Orn., VI., pl. 51, fig. 3; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 72, oct. ed. I. pl. 18; Gould, B. of Eur., 1. pl. 30; De Kay, Nat. Hist. N. Y., Birds, pl. 7, fig. 15.
Wings and tail long, the latter deeply forked. Head and neck, inferior wing-coverts, secondary quills at their bases, and entire under-parts, white. Back, wings, and tail, black, with a metallic lustre, purple on the back and lesser wing-coverts, green and blue on other parts. Tarsi and feet greenish-blue; bill horn color.
Dimensions. Female—total length, 23 to 25 inches; wing, 16 to 17½; tail, 14 inches. Male—rather smaller.
Hab. Southern States on the Atlantic, and centrally northward to Wisconsin; Texas (Mr. Audubon); South Carolina (Prof. Gibbes); Wisconsin (Dr. Hoy); Pennsylvania (Mr. A. F. Darley); Jamaica (Mr. Gosse). Accidental in Europe. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. This very handsome Hawk is especially abundant in the Southern States. It cannot readily be confounded with any other North American species, though we have not been able to compare it with the Elanoides yetapa, Vieill., of South America, with which it is either identical or very similar.
II. GENUS ELANUS. Savigny, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I., 97. (1809.)
Bill short, compressed, hooked; wings long, pointed; tail moderate, generally emarginate; tarsi short. Contains four species only, much resembling each other; one of which is American, one African, and two Australian.
1. Elanus leucurus. (Vieill.) The Black-shouldered Hawk. The White-tailed Hawk. Milvus leucurus. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., XX. p. 563. (1818.) Falco dispar. Temm., Pl. Col., I. (Liv. 54, about 1824.) “Falco melanopterus. Daud.” Bonap., Jour. Acad. Philada., V. p. 28. “Falco dispar. Temm.” Aud., Orn. Biog., IV. p. 367.
Bonap., Am. Orn., II. pl. 11, fig. 1; Temm., Pl. col. 319; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 352, oct. ed. I. pl. 16. Gay’s Chili Orn., pl. 2.
Head above, entire under-parts, and tail, white, the middle-feathers of the latter usually tinged above with ashy, and the head posteriorly tinged with the same color, which gradually shades into a fine light-cinereous, which is the color of the upper-parts of the body, quills, and greater wing-coverts. Lesser wing-coverts glossy black, which forms a large oblong patch; inferior wing-coverts white, with a smaller black patch. Bill dark; tarsi and feet yellow.
Dimensions. Female—total length, 15½ to 17 inches; wing, 12; tail, 7½ inches. Male—smaller.
Hab. Southern States; California (Dr. Heermann); South Carolina (Prof. Gibbes); Chili (Lieut. Gillis). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. An abundant species in the Southern and South-western States. It is larger than the African E. melanopterus, with which it has been confounded, but considerably resembling it and the Australian species in form and general characters.
III. GENUS ICTINIA. Vieill., Analyse, p. 24. (1816.)
NERTUS. Boie, Isis, 1828, p. 314.
PŒCILOPTERYX. Kaup, Class., p. 112. (1844.)
Bill short, tip emarginated; wings long, pointed; tail rather short; usually emarginated; tarsi short. Two American species constitute this genus.
1. Ictinia mississippiensis. (Wilson.) The Mississippi Kite. Falco mississippiensis. Wilson, Am. Orn., III. p. 80. (1811.) Falco ophiophagus. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., XI. p. 103. (1817.) “Ictinia plumbea. Gm.” Aud., Orn. Biog., II. p. 108.
Vieill., Gal., I. pl. 17; Wilson, Am. Orn., III. pl. 25, fig. 1; Aud., B. of Am. pl. 117, oct. ed. I. pl. 17.
Head, exposed ends of secondary quills, and entire under-parts, light-cinereous, palest and nearly white on the tips of the secondaries. Back, wing-coverts, and rump dark lead-color; primaries and tail brownish-black, the latter with a tinge of bluish. Bill dark; tarsi and feet lighter.
Dimensions. Total length, female, about 15 inches; wing, 11 to 11½; tail, 6½ inches. Male—smaller.
Hab. Southern States; Texas (Mr. Audubon); South Carolina (Prof. Gibbes). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. This bird is quite different from the South American I. plumbea, for which it has been mistaken by American naturalists; in fact, it is so little like it, that a comparison of specimens of the two species would render a suspicion of their identity quite impossible.
IV. GENUS ROSTRHAMUS. Lesson, Traité d’Orn., I. p. 55. (1831.)
Bill long, very slender, hooked, and sharp at the tip; wings long, pointed; tail rather long, emarginate; tarsi and toes rather long; claws very long, slender, acute. The present is the only species.
1. Rostrhamus sociabilis. (Vieill.) The Hooked-billed Hawk. Herpetotheres sociabilis. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., XVIII. p. 318. (1817.) Cymindis leucopygius. Spix, Av. Bras., I. p. 7. (1824.) Rostrhamus niger. Less., Traité, I. p. 56. (1831.) “Falco hamatus. Illiger.” Lesson, as above.
Temm., Pl. col. I. 61, 231; Spix, Av. Bras., I. pl. 2; Guerin, Mag. de Zool., 1834, pl. 20.
Adult. Tail at base, and under tail-coverts, white; all other parts black. Naked space before the eye yellow, which is also the color of the feet; bill and claws black. Tail usually tipped with pale-cinereous. Younger. Throat and line over and behind the eye yellowish-white; general plumage brownish-black, mixed with yellowish-white on the under-parts of the body. Young. Forehead—stripe behind the eye and throat reddish or ferruginous-white; upper-parts brown, many feathers edged with pale-ferruginous; under-parts yellowish, with longitudinal stripes of black; tail at tip and base, and under tail-coverts, yellowish-white. Legs yellowish-green.
Dimensions. Female—total length (of skin), 16 inches; wing, 14; tail, 7½ inches. Male—smaller.
Hab. Florida (Mr. Harris, Dr. Heermann). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. This bird is remarkable for its slender and hooked bill, unlike that of any other Falcon. It is well known as a South American bird, and was first noticed in Florida by Mr. Edward Harris; subsequently by Dr. Heermann. Both these gentlemen having obtained specimens of young birds, it is probably a constant resident of that State.
V. GENUS CIRCUS. Lacepede, Mem. d’Inst., III. p. 506. (1803.)
STRIGICEPS. Bonap., Comp. List., p. 5. (1838.)
Size medium; head rather large; face partially encircled by a ring or ruff of short projecting feathers (as in the Owls). Bill rather short, compressed, curved from the base; nostrils large; wings long, pointed; tail long, wide; tarsi long and slender, compressed; toes moderate; claws long, rather slender. Embraces about fifteen species, of all parts of the world.
1. Circus hudsonius. (Linn.) The Marsh Hawk. The Harrier. Falco hudsonius. Linn., Syst. Nat., I. p. 128. (1766.) Falco uliginosus. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 278. (1788.) Falco europogistus. Daudin, Traité, II. p. 110. (1800.) “Falco uliginosus.” Wilson, Am. Orn., VI. p. 67. “Falco cyaneus. Linn.” Aud., Orn. Biog., IV. p. 396.
Edw., Birds, VI. pl. 291; Vieill., Ois. d’Am., pl. 9; Wilson, Am. Orn., VI. pl. 51, fig. 2; Bonap., Am. Orn., II. pl. 12; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 356, oct. ed. I. pl. 26; Faun. Bor. Am., Birds, pl. 29; De Kay, Nat. Hist. N. Y. Orn., pl. 3, figs. 6, 7.
Form slender; tarsi long; ruff very distinct on the neck in front. Adult. Upper-parts, head, and breast, pale grayish-cinereous, generally more or less tinged with fuscous, and on the back of the head mixed with dark fulvous; upper tail-coverts white. Under-parts white, usually with many small cordate or hastate spots of light-ferruginous; quills brownish-black, with their outer webs tinged with ashy, and a large portion of their inner webs white; tail light-cinereous, nearly white on the inner webs of the feathers, and with obscure bands of brown; under-surface white; inferior wing-coverts white; secondaries tipped with dark-brown. Young. Entire upper-parts dark umber-brown, mixed with fulvous, and white on the occiput and neck behind; upper tail-coverts white. Tail reddish-brown, with about three broad bands of dark-fulvous, paler on their inner webs. Under-parts rufous, with stripes of brown on the breast and sides; tarsi and feet yellow. In younger birds, on the under-parts the brown stripes are more numerous.
Dimensions. Female—total length, 19½ to 21 inches; wing, 15½; tail, 10 inches. Male—total length, 16 to 18 inches; wing, about 14; tail 8½ to 9 inches.
Hab. All of North America; California (Col. M‘Call); Oregon (U. S. Ex. Exp. Vincennes); Cuba (M. de Sagra, M. Lembeye). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. Resembles to some extent the Circus cyaneus of Europe, but is easily distinguished from it by its colors and rather larger size. The adults and young of this species present great differences in color and general appearance.