Catesby, Mark. Vol.I, Tab. 4, The Swallow-Tail Hawk

Mark Catesby (1638 - 1749)Etching with hand color, paper dimensions: approximately 19 x 14 inchesFrom Volume I, Part 1 of Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida & the Bahama IslandsLondon: 1729 - 1771 Currently known as the swallow-tail kite, Elanoides forficatus*, Catesby described this subject as follows: ACCIPTER CAUDA FURCATA The Swallow-Tail Hawk. It weighs fourteen ounces: the Back black and hooked, without angles on the sides of the upper Mandible, as in other Hawks; the Eyes very large, and black, with a red Iris: the Head, Neck, Breast and Belly white; the Upper-part of the Wing and Back, dark purple; but more dusky towards the lower parts, with a tincture of green; the Wings long, in proportion to the Body; they being extended, are four foot; the Tail dark purple, mix'd with green, remarkably forked, the utmost and longest feather being eight inches longer than the middlemost, which is shortest. Like Swallows, they continue long on the wing, catching, as they fly,