Textbook Advancing Culture of Living With Landslides Volume 2 Advances in Landslide Science 1St Edition Matjaz Mikos Ebook All Chapter PDF
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Matjaž Mikoš · Binod Tiwari
Yueping Yin · Kyoji Sassa Editors
Advancing Culture of
Living with Landslides
Volume 2 Advances in Landslide Science
Advancing Culture of Living with Landslides
Matjaž Mikoš Binod Tiwari
•
Editors
123
Editors Associate editors
Matjaž Mikoš Mateja Jemec Auflič
Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering Geological Survey of Slovenia
University of Ljubljana Ljubljana
Ljubljana Slovenia
Slovenia
Adrin Tohari
Binod Tiwari Research Center for Geotechnology
Civil and Environmental Engineering Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Department Bandung
California State University, Fullerton Indonesia
Fullerton, CA
USA Basanta Raj Adhikari
Center for Disaster Studies
Yueping Yin Tribhuvan University, Institute of
China Institute of Geo-Environment Engineering
Monitoring Pulchowk
China Geological Survey Nepal
Beijing
China Beena Ajmera
California State University
Kyoji Sassa Fullerton, CA
International Consortium on Landslides USA
Kyoto
Japan Snježana Mihalić Arbanas
Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum
Engineering
University of Zagreb
Zagreb
Croatia
Hiroshima landslide disasters in August 2014, Hiroshima, Japan (PASCO Corporation—Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd. All
Rights Reserved).
Every year, disasters induced by natural hazards affect millions of people across the world.
The loss of life is tragic, impacting on communities for the long term.
The costs are also economic, as disasters are responsible for estimated annual economic
losses of around USD 300 billion. With the rising pressures of climate change, overpopulation,
and urbanization, we can expect costs to increase ever more.
We cannot prevent disasters but we can prepare for them better. This is the importance
of the International Consortium on Landslides, supported actively by UNESCO, to advance
research and build capacities for mitigating the risks of landslides. Led by Prof. Kyoji Sassa,
the Consortium has become a success story of international scientific cooperation at a time
when this has never been so vital.
This is especially important as the world implements the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as the Sendai Framework
for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030—adopted in Sendai, Japan, to assess global progress
on disaster risk reduction and set the priority actions.
The International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction—International Consortium on
Landslides Sendai Partnerships 2015–2025 is the key outcome relating to landslides from the
3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Sendai. On this basis, every
member of the International Consortium of Landslides is redoubling efforts to understand,
foresee, and reduce landslide disaster risk across the world.
Led by the Consortium, the Landslide Forum is a triennial milestone event that brings
together scientists, engineers, practitioners, and policy makers from across the world—all
working in the area of landslide technology, landslide disaster investigation, and landslide
remediation. Meeting in Slovenia, the 4th Landslide Forum will explore the theme, “Landslide
Research and Risk Reduction for Advancing Culture of Living with Natural Hazards”,
focusing on the multidisciplinary implementation of the Sendai Framework to build a global
culture of resilient communities.
Against this backdrop, this report includes state-of-the-art research on landslides, inte-
grating knowledge on multiple aspects of such hazards and highlighting good practices and
recommendations on reducing risks. Today, more than ever, we need sharper research and
stronger scientific cooperation. In this spirit, I thank all of the contributors to this publication
and I pledge UNESCO’s continuing support to deepening partnerships for innovation and
resilience in societies across the world.
v
vi Foreword By Irina Bokova
Landslides are a serious geological hazard. Among the host of natural triggers are intense
rainfall, flooding, earthquakes or volcanic eruption, and coastal erosion caused by storms that
are all too often tied to the El Niño phenomenon. Human triggers including deforestation,
irrigation or pipe leakage, and mining spoil piles, or stream and ocean current alteration can
also spark landslides.
Landslides occur worldwide but certain regions are particularly susceptible. The UN’s Food
and Agriculture Organization underlines that steep terrain, vulnerable soils, heavy rainfall, and
earthquake activity make large parts of Asia highly susceptible to landslides. Other hotspots
include Central, South, and Northwestern America.
Landslides have devastating impact. They can generate tsunamis, for example. They can
bring high economic costs, although estimating losses is difficult, particularly so when it
comes to indirect losses. The latter are often confused with losses due to earthquakes or
flooding.
Globally, landslides cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damages and hundreds of
thousands of deaths and injuries each year. In the US alone, it has been estimated that
landslides cause in excess of US$1 billion in damages on average per year, though that is
considered a conservative figure and the real level could be at least double.
Given this, it is important to understand the science of landslides: why they occur, what
factors trigger them, the geology associated with them, and where they are likely to happen.
Geological investigations, good engineering practices, and effective enforcement of land
use management regulations can reduce landslide hazards. Early warning systems can also be
very effective, with the integration between ground-based and satellite data in landslide
mapping essential to identify landslide-prone areas.
Given that human activities can be a contributing factor in causing landslides, there are a
host of measures that can help to reduce risks, and losses if they do occur. Methods to avoid or
mitigate landslides range from better building codes and standards in engineering of new
construction and infrastructure, to better land use and proper planned alteration of drainage
patterns, as well as tackling lingering risks on old landslide sites.
Understanding the interrelationships between earth surface processes, ecological systems,
and human activities is the key to reducing landslides disaster risks.
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a 15-year international agreement
adopted in March 2015, calls for more dedicated action on tackling underlying disaster risk
drivers. It points to factors such as the consequences of poverty and inequality, climate change
and variability, unplanned and rapid urbanization, poor land management, and compounding
factors such as demographic change, weak institutional arrangements, and non-risk-informed
policies. It also flags a lack of regulation and incentives for private disaster risk reduction
investment, complex supply chains, limited availability of technology, and unsustainable uses
of natural resources, declining ecosystems, pandemics and epidemics.
The Sendai Framework also calls for better risk-informed sectoral laws and regulations,
including those addressing land use and urban planning, building codes, environmental and
vii
viii Foreword By Robert Glasser
resource management and health and safety standards, and underlines that they should be
updated, where needed, to ensure an adequate focus on disaster risk management.
The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has an important role in reinforcing
a culture of prevention and preparedness in relevant stakeholders. This is done by supporting
the development of standards by experts and technical organizations, advocacy initiatives, and
the dissemination of disaster risk information, policies, and practices. UNISDR also provides
education and training on disaster risk reduction through affiliated organizations, and supports
countries, including through national platforms for disaster risk reduction or their equivalent,
in the development of national plans and monitoring trends and patterns in disaster risk, loss,
and impacts.
The International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) hosts the Sendai Partnerships 2015–
2025 for the global promotion of understanding and reducing landslide disaster risk. This is
part of 2015–2025, a voluntary commitment made at the Third UN World Conference on
Disaster Risk Reduction, held in 2015 in Sendai, Japan, where the international community
adopted the Sendai Framework.
The Sendai Partnerships will help to provide practical solutions and tools, education and
capacity building, and communication and public outreach to reduce landslides risks. As such,
they will contribute to the implementation of the goals and targets of the Sendai Framework,
particularly on understanding disaster risks including vulnerability and exposure to integrated
landslide-tsunami risk.
The work done by the Sendai Partnerships can be of value to many stakeholders including
civil protection, planning, development and transportation authorities, utility managers, agri-
cultural and forest agencies, and the scientific community.
UNISDR fully support the work of the Sendai Partnerships and the community of practice
on landslides risks, and welcomes the 4th World Landslide Forum to be held in 2017 in
Slovenia, which aims to strengthen intergovernmental networks and the international pro-
gramme on landslides.
Robert Glasser
Special Representative of the Secretary-General
for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of UNISDR
Preface
Landslides are among the global natural disasters that occur frequently and cause billions of
dollars of property damage and kill thousands of people each year. Continuous efforts, in the
past few decades, of scientists, engineers, and researchers from other pertinent areas have
significantly increased our capacity on characterization, monitoring, analyzing and preventing
landslide hazards. With the development of better technology and numerical analysis tools,
our efforts in minimizing the effect of landslide hazards have substantially been enhanced in
recent years. Moreover, the global platforms to frequently share the scientific knowledge of
individuals and organizations working on landslide hazard mitigation have helped us learn
lessons from the past to work collectively on creating safer living environment. As an
example, International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) has played a significant role in
bringing those scientists, individuals and organizations together to work towards a common
goal of landslide hazard mitigation, through the development of global network on landslide
studies, international program on landslides as well as world center of excellence; publication
of the full color journal “Landslides”, landslides interactive teaching tools; development of an
interactive website for the world landslide report; and organizing yearly symposiums as well
the World Landslide Forum every three years.
With the global coordination efforts and development of better research methods as well as
study tools, there has been a significant advancement in landslide science, specifically in the
area of landslide monitoring, robust landslide hazard analysis methods, laboratory and field
investigation techniques, numerical and physical modeling, accurate field recognition tech-
niques, and landslide prediction. This volume of the proceedings of the World Landslide
Forum 4 compiles results of the studies conducted all over the world pertinent to the
advancement of landslide science. Specifically, papers on landslide hazard and inventory maps
from dozens of countries have been included that were developed using very simple to
extremely sophisticated tools. Articles in this volume also include integration of precise and
state-of-the-art sensors and pertinent tools such as UAVs and laser scanners to monitor
landslides and enhance the landslide database. Likewise, recent developments on geophysical
surveys, field investigation techniques, monitoring devices, small to medium scale laboratory
experiments, and laboratory techniques available globally, included in the volume, provide an
international outlook on the recent development of investigation methods. A few dozen
papers, included in this volume, also help us understand how, in the recent years, we have
advanced the physical and numerical analysis techniques pertinent to landslides, specifically
with the development of hydrological, mechanical, and dynamic interfaces to predict landslide
and debris flow movement. Moreover, over sixty articles, presented in part two of this volume,
ix
x Preface
include sophisticated to simple methods developed in recent years for landslide hazard, risk
assessment, and prediction. Landslide hazard maps and inventories, developed from all over
the world and included in this volume, help to understand the extent and characteristics of the
landslide problems faced globally and learn lessons from past disasters to develop resilient
communities in future.
University of Ljubljana
xi
xii Organizers
Co-organizers
Organizing Committee
Honorary Chairpersons
Chairpersons
Matjaž Mikoš, Chairman, Slovenian National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
Yueping Yin, President, International Consortium on Landslides
Kyoji Sassa, Executive Director, International Consortium on Landslides
xvii
xviii Contents
Binod Tiwari
Abstract
There had been a significant progress in the past few years on the advancement in
technology, analyses methods, and simulation techniques for landslide hazard mitigation.
This volume includes a few of such advancements. The entire volume include 124 papers
that have been accepted through the extensive peer review process. The entire volume is
included into four subthemes and the fourth theme is also subdivided into two parts. This
volume includes the papers pertinent to research and studies from all over the world on
advancement regarding the techniques pertinent to landslide field recognition, field and
laboratory based landslide investigation techniques, numerical and physical modeling
methods, landslide hazard and risk assessment as well as prediction techniques. Description
of individual subtopic are presented prior to the presentation of each session.
Keywords
Landslide monitoring Landslide inventory Risk assessment Physical modeling
Numerical simulation field instrumentation Laboratory testing
Introduction Papers were solicited from all over the world pertinent to
the theme of the volume—advances to landslide science.
There has been a significant progress in the field of landslide A total of 187 papers were submitted for possible publica-
science in recent years. This progress can be attributed to the tion in this volume. The submissions were from profes-
development of field monitoring and remote sensing tech- sionals working both in government and private sectors as
nology, development of robust devices for monitoring of well as researchers working in academic as well as gov-
landslides as well as field and laboratory testing, availability ernment and non-governmental research institutes all over
of highly precision sensors, development of large scale the world. All submitted papers went through a rigorous peer
physical modelling facilities, development of high precision review process and a paper that received at least one positive
and high speed computational infrastructure, 2D to 4D review as accepted for publication in this volume. Through
numerical simulation programs, availability of high resolu- the extensive review process, a total of 124 papers have been
tion remote sensing imagery and data processing capabili- accepted and included in this volume.
ties, and many other factors. This volume of the Proceedings The entire volume include two keynote lectures and the
of the WLF4 will include the recent advancements made in accepted papers that are separated into four sub-sections, as
the research and implementation pertinent to the above listed below:
mentioned activities in the past couple of years.
• Landslide field recognition and identification: remote
B. Tiwari (&) sensing techniques, field techniques etc.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California
State University, 800 N. State College Blvd., E-419, Fullerton, CA
• Landslide investigation: field investigation, laboratory
92831, USA testing etc.
e-mail: [email protected]
• Landslide modeling: landslide mechanics and simulation laboratory based landslide investigation methods, and labo-
models ratory testing of soils and rocks.
• Landslide hazard, risk assessment and prediction: land-
slide inventories and susceptibility, hazard mapping
methods, damage potential etc. Landslide Modeling: Landslide Mechanics
and Simulation Models
The first keynote lecture is pertinent to the history of
earthquake induced landslides based on the database avail- Binod Tiwari from USA, He Bin from China, Adrin Tohari
able in the past 100 years (Tiwari and Ajmera 2017). The from Indonesia, and Ye-Ming Zhang from China generously
keynote lecture introduces the factors controlling earthquake acted as the convenors of this sub-theme. Adrin Tohari
induced landslides. The second keynote lecture on the reli- managed the submitted papers as the session editor. A total
ability based assessment of the current landslide hazard of 22 papers were accepted in this session through an
evaluation techniques (Zhang et al. 2017). The description of extensive peer review process. Papers submitted in this
each sub-topic within the overall the theme of this volume session research from all paper the world pertinent to the
are briefly described below. Each sessions are separately recent developments and research studies on physical and
introduced by the session editors prior to the occurrence of numerical modeling related to landslides causes, mechanism
the accepted papers, which are arranged in the alphabetical and remediation techniques.
order of the last name of the main author.
Mateja Jemec Auflič from Slovenia, Netra Prakash Bhand- Conveners of this session were Snježana Mihalić Arbanas
ary from Japan, Filippo Catani from Italy, A A Virajh Dias from Croatia, Basanta Raj Adhikari from Nepal, Fausto
from Sri Lanka, and Ping Lu from China generously agreed Guzzetti from Italy, Huabin Wang from China. As the
to work as the conveners of this session and Mateja Jemec number of papers submitted in this session were significantly
Auflič managed the submitted papers as a session editor. large, the submitted papers were divided into two parts—
A total of 24 papers have been accepted to be included in part A and part B. part A was managed by Basanta Raj
this sub-theme. The papers, submitted from all over the Adhikari and the part B was managed by Snježana Mihalić
world include an overview of the recent developments and Arbanas as session editors. A total of 52 papers were
research studies in landslide field recognition and identifi- accepted in this session after an extensive peer review pro-
cation techniques, including but not limited to various cess. The papers included in this session have been sub-
remote sensing techniques, field investigation methods as mitted from all over the world on the recent developments
well as landslide field recognition and identification tech- and research studies pertinent to landslide hazards, risk
niques both in macro and micro scale. assessment and prediction techniques, research studies and
application of LS inventories and identification of landslide
susceptibility, research studies and application of various
Landslide Investigation: Field Investigation, landslide hazard mapping techniques available in practice,
Laboratory Testing and research studies and application of various techniques to
identify the damage potential due to landslides.
Beena Ajmera from USA, Netra Prakash Bhandary from
Japan, Luciano Picarelli from Italy, and Kaixi Xue from
China generously worked as the convenors of this sub-theme Conclusion
and Beena Ajmera handled all submitted papers as the ses-
sion editor. There are 26 papers accepted for publication in There have been a significant advancement on the landslide
this sub-there that were submitted from all over the world on science in the past few years. This volume includes a total of
the research these such as an overview of recent develop- 124 accepted papers that cover the overall theme of the
ment at research and application of landslide investigation volume, which is divided into four different sub-themes.
techniques, both in the field and laboratory levels, in situ Moreover, two keynote lectures, one on the history of
landslide investigation methods, large and small scale research on earthquake induced landslides and another on
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back broadly convex, the sides convex, the edges sharp, the tip
acute. Nostrils round, basal.
Head rather large, ovate, flattish above; neck very short; body ovate,
compact. Legs shortish; tarsus short, compressed, rather stout, with
seven anterior scutella, and two lateral plates forming an acute edge
behind; toes of moderate length; middle toe longer than the tarsus,
lateral toes much shorter and equal, hind toe stout. Claws rather
large, arched, much compressed, acute.
Plumage soft and blended; very small bristles at the base of the
upper mandible. Wings of ordinary length, the second quill longest,
the first four having the outer web attenuated toward the end;
secondaries slightly emarginate. Tail rather long, straight,
emarginate, of twelve feathers.
Bill dull greenish-yellow, brown above. Iris hazel. Feet greyish-blue,
claws greyish-yellow. The general colour of the plumage is pure
scarlet; the wings and tail black; the axillar feathers, inner lower
wing-coverts, and more or less of the inner webs of nearly all the
quills, white.
Length to end of tail 7 inches, to end of wings 5 3/4, to end of claws
6 3/8; extent of wings 11 3/4; wing from flexure 4 1/12; tail 2 10/12; bill
1/2
along the ridge 7 /12, along the edge of lower mandible 10/12; tarsus
9/ ;
12 hind toe 4 1/4/12, its claw 3 1/2/12; middle toe 7 1/4/12, its claw 4 1/4/12.
Adult Female. Plate CCCLIV. Fig. 4.
Bill and feet as in the male. The general colour of the upper parts is
yellowish-green, tinged with grey, of the lower parts greenish-yellow;
the feathers of the wings and tail greyish-brown, margined with
yellowish-green, the secondaries and tail-feathers narrowly tipped
with greyish-white, the lower wing-coverts and the edges of all the
quills white.
Length to end of tail 6 1/2 inches, to end of wings 5 3/4, to end of
claws 6 1/4; extent of wings 10 3/4.
The young when fledged resemble the female; the males being,
however, distinguishable from the females by their brighter tints.
The young male in autumn, after the first, moult, has the lower parts
of a much brighter yellow, the upper of a lighter green, but with all
the feathers having a central black mark, those on the head oblong,
on the middle of the back broad, on the rump linear. The wing-
coverts are black; the quills and tail-feathers brownish-black,
margined with yellowish-green.
Two males in my possession, shot by Dr Trudeau, are remarkable
for having the first row of small coverts scarlet, forming a
conspicuous band amidst the black of the wing, and the lower wing-
coverts tipped and margined with the same. In all other respects,
however, these individuals agree with the others.
An adult male examined. The roof of the mouth is concave, with a
median prominent ridge and two more prominent lateral ridges,
between which and the edges is a broad groove for the reception of
the lower mandible. The tongue is 6 twelfths long, deeply emarginate
and papillate at the base, flat above, with a median groove, the tip
horny and pointed, but terminated by several flattened bristles or
shreds Œsophagus, a b c, 2 1/2 inches long, its diameter 4 1/2
twelfths, until its entrance into the thorax, when it contracts a little.
Proventriculus, b c, 1/2 inch long, and 3 1/2 twelfths in diameter. The
stomach, c d e, is a strong gizzard, 8 twelfths long, 7 twelfths in
breadth, its lateral muscles moderately thick; the epithelium rugous
and dark reddish-brown. Intestine, f g h, 7 1/2 inches long, its
average diameter 2 1/2 twelfths, its narrowest part 2 twelfths. The
rectum i j, 10 twelfths long; the cœca, i, 3/4 of a twelfth long, and 1/2
twelfth in diameter.
The trachea is 2 inches long, its diameter 1 1/2 twelfths, and nearly
uniform; the rings about 60. The contractor and sterno-tracheal
muscles are slender; and there are four pairs of inferior laryngeal.
In a female the intestine is 7 1/4 inches long.
Fringilla Macgillivraii.
PLATE CCCLV. Male and Female.
With ease and elegance of flight, guided by an uncommon acuteness of what I would call short-
sightedness, the Marsh Hawk, like an experienced gleaner, ranges over the wide extent of the prairie.
The pure white of the hind part of the female’s back, and the pale blue of the male, attract your eye so
long as the pair remain within sight. The diligence and industry which they exhibit remind you of the
search of a well-trained pointer.
This species visits the greater part of the United States. Dr Richardson procured some specimens in
latitude 65° north, and Dr Townsend found it on the plains of the Columbia River, as well as on the
extensive prairies bordering on the Missouri. I have met with it in Newfoundland and Labrador on the
one hand, in Texas on the other, and in every intermediate portion of the country.
In the Fauna Boreali-Americana, Mr Swainson has published an excellent paper relating to such birds
as have and have not been considered as identical with this bird and the European one bearing the
same name. I perfectly agree with that gentleman when he says that “the typical structure of the wing in
the present group must unquestionably be that most prevalent among the species. It must, however, be
remembered, that even this character is subject to variation, according to the age and perhaps the
locality of the bird, and that it must not be insisted upon with too much rigour.” I regret that this learned
ornithologist did not introduce the word sex into the above well-founded remark, as in the sexes of birds,
as well as in individuals of different ages, remarkable differences are often observed.
It is to Montagu that we are indebted for our first knowledge of the differences that exist between the
male and the female of the European Hen Harrier, with which Wilson believed the Marsh Hawk of
America to be identical. The Prince of Musignano, in his continuation of Wilson’s American Ornithology,
also considered these birds as the same; although he has since altered his opinion. For my part, having
carefully observed the habits, and compared specimens of both, I have come to the conclusion of their
being the same species.
The flight of the Marsh Hawk, although light and elegant, cannot be said to be either swift or strong; but
it is well sustained, and this may be accounted for on comparing the small size and weight of its body
with the great extent of its wings and tail, which are proportionally larger than those of any other
American Hawk. While searching for prey, it performs most of its rambles by rather irregular sailings; by
which I mean that it frequently deviates from a straight course peeping hither and thither among the tall
grasses of the marshes, prairies, or meadows, or along the briary edges of our fields. It is seldom
indeed seen to chase birds on wing, although I have met with a few instances; nor is it much in the habit
of carrying its quarry to any distance; for generally as it observes an object suited to its appetite, it
suddenly checks its speed, and almost poising itself by a few flaps of its wings, drops with astonishing
quickness on its unfortunate victim, which it usually tears to pieces and devours on the spot. If
disappointed, however, it rises as quickly as it dropped, and proceeds as before. Whilst engaged in
feeding, it may very easily be approached, surprised, and shot, by an experienced sportsman, for it rises
in a flurried manner, and generally cuts a few curious zigzags at the outset. To obtain it, one has only to
mark the spot with accuracy, keep his eye upon it, and advance with his gun in readiness, for he will
probably get within a few yards before the bird rises. I have frequently seen it shot in this manner. At
other times, by watching its beats over a field or meadow, one may obtain a good opportunity by
concealing himself near a spot where he has seen it miss its object, as it is sure to repass there in a
short time, at all events before it removes to another field. When wounded and brought to the ground, it
makes off on the approach of its enemy by great leaps, and at times so swiftly that great exertion is
requisite to overtake it; and when this is accomplished, it throws itself on its back, strikes furiously, and
can inflict pretty severe wounds with its very sharp claws.
This species flies very high at times, and in a direct course, as if intent on proceeding to some great
distance; but as I observed that this frequently occurred when the bird was satiated with food, I have
thought that it preferred this method of favouring digestion, to its more usual mode of sitting on the top
of a fence rail, and there remaining quiet until again roused by the feeling of hunger. I have often seen it,
after sailing about in circles for a long while, half-close its wings, and come towards the ground, cutting
curious zigzags, until within a few feet of it, when it would resume its usual elegant and graceful mode of
proceeding.
I have observed it in our western prairies in autumn moving in flocks of twenty, thirty, or even so many
as forty individuals, and appearing to be migrating, as they passed along at a height of fifty or sixty
yards, without paying any attention to the objects below; but on all these occasions I could never find
that they were bent on any general course more than another; as some days a flock would be
proceeding southward, on the next to the northward or eastward. Many times I have seen them follow
the grassy margins of our great streams, such as the Ohio and Mississippi, at the approach of winter, as
if bent on going southward, but have become assured that they were merely attracted by the vast
multitudes of Finches or Sparrows of various sorts which are then advancing in that direction.
In winter, the notes which the Marsh Hawk emits while on wing, are sharp, and sound like the syllables
pee, pee, pee, the first slightly pronounced, the last louder, much prolonged, and ending plaintively.
During the love-season, its cry more resembles that of our Pigeon Hawk; especially when the males
meet, they being apparently tenacious of their assumed right to a certain locality, as well as to the
female of their choice.
The Marsh Hawk breeds in many parts of the United States, as well as beyond our limits to the north
and south in which it finds a place suited to its habits; as is the case with the Blue-winged Teal, and
several other species, which have until now been supposed to retreat to high latitudes for the purpose.
That many make choice of the more northern regions, and return southward in autumn, is quite certain;
but in all probability an equal number remain within the confines of the United States to breed.
It is by no means restricted to the low lands of the sea-shores during the breeding season, for I have
found its nest in the Barrens of Kentucky, and even on the cleared table-lands of the Alleghany
Mountains and their spurs. In one instance, I found it in the high-covered pine-barrens of the Floridas,
although I have never seen one on a tree; and the few cases of its nest having been placed on low trees
or bushes, may have been caused by the presence of dangerous quadrupeds, or their having been
more than once disturbed or robbed of their eggs or young, when their former nests had been placed on
the ground.
Many birds of this species breed before they have obtained their full plumage. I have several times
found a male bird in brown plumage paired with a female which had eggs; but such a circumstance is
not singular, for the like occurs in many species of different families. I have never met with a nest in
situations like those described by some European writers as those in which the Hen-harrier breeds; but
usually on level parts of the country, or flat pieces of land that are sometimes met with in hilly districts.
As I am well aware, however, that birds adapt the place and even the form and materials of their nests
to circumstances, I cannot admit that such a difference is by any means sufficient to prove that birds
similar in all other respects, are really different from each other. If it be correct, as has been stated, that
the male of the European bird deserts the female, as soon as incubation commences, this indeed would
form a decided difference; but as such a habit has not been observed in any other Hawk, it requires to
be confirmed. Our Marsh Hawks, after being paired, invariably keep together, and labour conjointly for
the support of their family, until the young are left to shift for themselves. This is equally the case with
every Hawk with which I am acquainted.
Having considerable doubts as to whether any American writer who has spoken of the Marsh Hawk ever
saw one of its nests, I will here describe one found on Galveston Island by my son John Woodhouse,
and carefully examined by him as well as by my friend Edward Harris and myself. As is usually the
case when in a low and flat district, this was placed about a hundred yards from a pond, on the ground,
upon a broom-sedge ridge, about two feet above the level of the surrounding salt marsh. It was made of
dry grass, and measured between seven and eight inches in its internal diameter, with a depth of two
inches and a half, while its external diameter was twelve inches. The grass was pretty regularly and
compactly disposed, especially in the interior, on which much care seemed to have been bestowed. No
feathers or other materials had been used in its construction, not even a twig. The eggs were four,
smooth, considerably rounded, or broadly elliptical, bluish-white, an inch and three-quarters in length, an
inch and a quarter in breadth. The two birds were procured, and their measurements carefully entered in
my journal, as well as those of others obtained in various parts of the United States and of the British
Provinces. A nest found on the Alleghanies was placed under a low bush, in an open spot of scarcely
half an acre. It was constructed in the same manner, as the one described above, but was more bulky,
the bed being about four inches from the earth. The eggs, although of the same form and colour, were
slightly sprinkled with small marks of pale reddish-brown. In general, the Marsh Hawks scoop the
ground, for the purpose of fixing their nest to the spot. On returning to London, in the summer of 1837, I
shewed several of the eggs of the American bird to William Yarbell, Esq. who at once pronounced
them to belong to the Hen Harrier; and on comparing their measurements with those of the eggs
described by my friend William Macgillivray, I find that they agree perfectly.
The young are at first covered with soft yellowish-white down, but in a few weeks shew the brownish
and ferruginous tints of their female parent, the young males being distinguishable from the females by
their smaller size.
I have found a greater number of barren females in this species than in any other; and to this I in part
attribute their predominance over the males. The food of the Marsh Hawk consists of insects of various
kinds, especially crickets, of small lizards, frogs, snakes, birds, principally the smaller sorts, although it
will attack Partridges, Plovers, and even Green-winged Teals, when urged by excessive hunger. The
only instance in which I have seen this bird carry any prey in its talons on wing, happened on the 2d of
April 1837, at the south-west Pass of the Mississippi, when I was in company with Edward Harris,
Esq. and my son John Woodhouse. A Marsh Hawk was seen to seize a bird on its nest, perhaps a
Marsh Wren, Troglodytes palustris, and carry it off in its talons with the nest! A pair were hovering over
the marsh during the whole of our stay, and probably had a nest thereabout. It is rather a cowardly bird,
however, for on several occasions, when I was in the Floridas, where it is abundant, I saw it chase a
Salt-water Marsh Hen, Rallus crepitans, which courageously sprung up, and striking at its enemy, forced
it off. My friend John Bachman has frequently observed similar occurrence in the neighbourhood of
Charleston. Whenever it seizes a bird on wing, it almost at once drops to the ground with it, and if in an
exposed place, hops off with its prey to the nearest concealment.
In autumn, after the young have left their parents, they hunt in packs. This I observed on several
occasions when on my way back from Labrador. In Nova Scotia, on the 27th of August, we procured
nearly a whole pack, by concealing ourselves, but did not see an adult male. These birds are fond of
searching for prey over the same fields, removing from one plantation to another, and returning with a
remarkable degree of regularity, and this apparently for a whole season, if not a longer period. My friend
John Bachman observed a beautiful old male which had one of its primaries cut short by a shot,
regularly return to the same rice-field during the whole of the autumn and winter, and believes that the
same individual revisits the same spot annually. When satiated with food, the Marsh Hawk may be seen
perched on a fence-stake for more than an hour, standing motionless. On horseback I have approached
them on such occasions near enough to see the colour of their eyes, before they would reluctantly open
their wings, and remove to another stake not far distant, where they would probably remain until
digestion was accomplished.
I have never seen this species searching for food in the dusk. Indeed, in our latitudes, when the orb of
day has withdrawn from our sight, the twilight is so short, and the necessity of providing a place of safety
for the night so imperious in birds that are not altogether nocturnal, that I doubt whether the Marsh
Hawk, which has perhaps been on wing the greater part of the day, and has had many opportunities of
procuring food, would continue its flight for the sake of the scanty fare which it might perchance procure
at a time when few birds are abroad, and when quadrupeds only are awakening from their daily
slumber.
Wilson must have been misinformed by some one unacquainted with the arrival and departure of this
species, as well as of the Rice Bird, in South Carolina, when he was induced to say that the Marsh
Hawk “is particularly serviceable to the rice-fields of the Southern States, by the havoc it makes among
the clouds of Rice Buntings that spread such devastation among the grain, in its early stages. As it sails
low, and swiftly, over the surface of the field, it keeps the flocks in perpetual fluctuation, and greatly
interrupts their depredations. The planters consider one Marsh Hawk to be equal to several Negroes for
alarming the Rice Birds.” Now, good Reader, my friend John Bachman, who has resided more than
twenty years in South Carolina, and who is a constant student of nature, and perhaps more especially
attentive to the habits of birds, informs me that the Marsh Hawk is proportionally rare in that State, and
that it only makes its appearance there after the Rice Birds have left the country for the south, and
retires at the approach of spring, before they have arrived.
European writers have generally considered our Marsh Hawk as larger than their Circus cyaneus; but
this opinion must have originated from a want of specimens for comparison, and perhaps also a want of
books on which one might depend. Were all ornithological works characterized by the accuracy and
detail to be found in those of my friend William Macgillivray, the case might be different. The
measurements which he has taken from recent specimens correspond with those which I also have
taken from individuals newly killed, as nearly as is usual in birds of other species. Indeed, should you
measure as accurately as possible a hundred specimens of any bird as large as our Marsh Hawk, I am
persuaded you would not find many of them to agree in all their proportions. Instead of the American
exceeding the European bird in size, I think it will generally be found to be as nearly equal as possible.
If measurements of this kind are calculated to throw light on the subject, the collectors of skins are
welcome to the above, which have been made with as much accuracy as possible.
An adult male examined. On the roof of the mouth are two lateral and a median prominent ridge, the
intervening space covered with small papillæ. The posterior aperture of the nares is oblong, 4 twelfths of
an inch in length, but with an anterior slit 7 1/2 twelfths long. The tongue, a, is 8 1/2 twelfths long, fleshy,
emarginate and papillate at the base, concave above, rounded and slightly emarginate at the tip. The
mouth is 1 inch in breadth. The œsophagus, a b c d e, which is 6 inches long, is very wide, with very thin
parietes, and on the lower part of the neck is dilated into a sac or crop, b c, which on being distended
has a diameter of 2 inches at the widest part. It then contracts to 10 twelfths as it enters the thorax; its
proventricular portion, d e, has a diameter of 1 inch. The stomach, e f g is roundish, 1 1/2 inch in
diameter, somewhat compressed; its muscular coat extremely thin, being reduced to small parallel
fasciculi converging toward two tendinous spaces of an elliptical form, and about half an inch long. The
intestine, g h, is 3 feet 2 inches long; its diameter at the upper part 3 twelfths, towards the cœca 2
twelfths. The rectum, i j, is 2 inches long, not including the cloaca, j, which is globular and 1 inch in
diameter. The cœca are extremely small, being 2 1/4 twelfths long, and 1 twelfth in diameter. The pylorus
has no valve properly so called, but two ridges run from it into the intestine to the length of about 3
twelfths of an inch. The gall-bladder is 7 twelfths long and 4 twelfths in breadth.
In a very small male, the œsophagus is 4 3/4 inches long; the intestine 3 feet 4 inches. In a female, the
intestine is 3 feet 9 inches long.
The trachea is 4 8/12 inches long, flattened. 4 1/4 twelfths broad at the upper part, gradually contracting
to 2 3/4 twelfths; its rings 95, extremely thin and unossified. The bronchi are of moderate length, with
about 20 half-rings. The lateral muscles are thin, the sterno-tracheal slender.
THE COMMON MAGPIE.
Corvus pica, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 157.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 162—
Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 57.—Richards. and
Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 292.
Corvus Hudsonius, Sabine, Frankl. Journ. p. 671.
Magpie, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 219.