112 MISSISSIPPI KITE.
ignorant of the danger to which it had been exposed, while it seemed to
look down upon me quite unconcerned. When wounded, it comes to the
ground with great force, and seldom attempts to escape, choosing rather
to defend itself, which it does to the last, by throwing itself on its back,
erecting the feathers of its head, screaming loudly in the manner of the
Pigeon Hawk, disgorging the contents of its stomach, stretching out its
talons, and biting or clenching with great vigour. It is extremely muscular,
the flesh tough and rigid.
These birds at times search for food so far from the spot where their
nest has been placed, that I have on several occasions been obliged to
follow their course over the woods, as if in search of a wild bee's hive, before
I could discover it. There is scarcely any perceptible difference between
the sexes as to size, and in colour they are precisely similar, only
the female has less of the ferruginous colour on her primaries than the
male. The stomach is thin, rugous, and of a deep orange colour.
F A L C O P L U M B E U S , Gmel. Syst. Nat vol. i. p. 2 8 3 .— Lath. Index Ornith. vol. i. p. 49.
—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 90.—Nuttall, Manual,
vol. i. p. 92.
M I S S I S S I P P I K I T E , F A L C O M I S S I S S I P P I E N S I S , Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 80.
fig. 1. Male.
Adult Male. Plate CXVII. Fig. 1.
Bill short, as broad as deep at the base, the sides convex, the dorsal
outline convex from the base; upper mandible cerate, the edges sharp,
with an obtuse lobe towards the curvate, the tip trigonal, deflected, very
acute; lower mandible inflected at the edges, rounded at the end. Nostrils
round, lateral, basal, with a central papilla. Head rather large, the
general form robust. Legs of moderate length, strong; tarsus stout,
covered anteriorly with scutella, rounded behind; toes scutellate above,
scaly on the sides, scabrous and tuberculate beneath ; middle and outer
toe connected at the base by a small membrane; claws roundish, curved,
very acute.
Plumage compact, imbricated; feathers of the head narrow, pointed,
and rather loose ; tibial feathers elongated. Wings long and pointed, the
third quill longest. Tail long, straight, retuse.
Bill black, as are the cere, lore, and a narrow band round the eye.
Iris blood-red. Feet purplish, the scutella deep red -y claws black. The
I.
MISSISSIPPI KITE. 113
head, the neck all round, and the under parts in general bluish-white.
The back and wing-coverts are of a dark leaden colour, the ends of the
secondary coverts white. The primaries black, margined externally with
bright bay ; the tail also deep black, as is the rump.
Length 14 inches, extent of wings 36 ; bill along the ridge \ l, along
the edge \§ ; tarsus If,
Adult Female. Plate CXVII. Fig. %
The female differs little from the male in colour, and is not much
larger.
Length 15 inches.
VOL. II. n