RAPTORES : FALCONID.E. 1 29 



Baird's Buzzard, B. Bairdii, Hoy, of Northern and 

 Western North America, is eighteen to twenty inches 

 long, and wing fifteen inches. 



The Red-tailed Black Hawk, B. calurus, Cass., of West- 

 ern North America, is twenty-one inches long, and the 

 wing sixteen and a half inches. 



The Brown Hawk, Buteo insignatus, Cass., of Western 

 North America, is nineteen and a half inches long, and 

 the wing sixteen inches ; the male seventeen inches, and 

 the wing fourteen and a half inches. 



Harlan's Buzzard, B.Harlani, Bonap., of Western North 

 America, is twenty-one inches long, and the wings six- 

 teen inches. 



The Red-tailed Hawk,j5. borcalis,ViQ\\\., of North Amer- 

 ica east of the Rocky Mountains and southward to the 

 West Indies, is twenty-two to twenty-four inches long, 

 the wing fifteen to sixteen inches in length ; the male 

 nineteen to twenty-one inches long, and the wing four- 

 teen inches. The upper parts are dark umber-brown, 

 the tail bright rufous tipped with white, and with a sub- 

 terminal band of black ; the under parts pale yellowish- 

 white, with lines and spots of reddish-brown ; and the 

 under surface of the tail silvery white. This hawk is 

 powerful ; its flight is firm and protracted, and generally 

 accompanied with a mournful cry. When it espies an 

 intended victim, it alights upon a tree and watches for a 

 short time, and then, with wings partly closed, descends 

 swiftly upon the prey. When scanning a region, it some- 

 times sweeps around in broad circles, and thus rises to 

 such a height as to be scarcely visible. Sometimes this 

 hawk takes its stand upon a tall tree, and watches silently 

 for hours for a good opportunity, which it seldom fails to 

 improve. Poultry, hares, and squirrels fall an easy prey. 

 This hawk builds its nest, which is large and flat, in 

 the forked branches of one of the largest trees of the 



