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In addition to these two species which have a legal protective status, four other species were documented on or immediately adjacent to the project site that are presently listed under the state categories of "Species of Special Concern" or "Fully Protected Species" and/or under the federal category of "Candidate 2." A special concern species is one whose numbers are declining and is moving toward a status which may merit listing as threatened or endangered in the near future. A candidate species is one that has been proposed for listing on the federal register, and the#2 designation indicates that more data in its situation is needed before such a listing can occur. The fully protected designation is an older state designation which basically denotes that it is unlawful to kill or harass such a species, but does not make mention of any requirements for habitat protection. At present there are no published guidelines for the protection of such species when they are documented on sites proposed for development. Instead, requests for the protection of each are normally forthcoming from the appropriate state or federal agency when reviewing a development plan and/or an environmental impact report for a development proposal. This current situation creates some difficulty in the preparation of the biotic section of EIRs, since without published guidelines,uncertainty exists as to how vigorously the protection of a given special concern or candidate species may be pursued. For this reason only a brief natural history sketch of each species is presented. Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) State Species of Concern, Priority 2, No Federal Listing The former name of this bird was the "marsh hawk", which denotes its dependency on marsh and seasonal wetland habitats for its survival. It is well adapted to capture rodents in dense, low vegetative cover through its habit of gliding low over an area and dropping quickly on exposed prey. It is also unique among hawks in that it nests on the ground instead of high in trees, and it is sexually dimorphic, with the male having a gray plumage and the female a brown coloration. In the area of the project site it appears to be non-migratory. Its decline in past decades has been a direct result of marsh drainage and conversion to agricultural land, thus its designation as a state species of concern (Remsen, 1978). Like the Swainson's hawk, the loss of the marsh feeding habitat of the northern harrier has been partially buffered in the Central Valley by agricultural crops and moderately grazed pasture which support large rodent populations. Several pairs of northern harriers were seen on the project site during the 10-month survey period. Most of these observations were made in the south Tracy Lake basin area. Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caerulea) California Fully Protected Species. No Federal Listing This raptor is a feeding specialist on the California meadow vole. Because of its habit of hunting by hovering in place above areas of vole activity, its easily observable presence is usually a good indicator of this key prey species abundance in an area. Several sightings of single hovering kites were made at various places along the lake basin-grassland edge, indicating that meadow voles may be particularly abundant. 21