28 NORTH AMERICAN OOLOGY. PART I. 



It is probable that it is distributed throughout the greater part of North America 

 west of the Mississippi, and we may yet hear of stray individuals on the eastern side 

 of that river. 



Two eggs belonging to a bird of this species were obtained by Mr. Samuels near 

 Petaluma, California, in 1856, one of which is represented in Plate I, fig. 6. This egg- 

 measures 2-rs inches in length, by lyf inches in its greatest breadth. The shape of 

 the egg is an almost exact ovoid, slightly tending to a spheroid, one end being hardly 

 perceptibly larger than the other. Its ground color is a very light buff, the spot- 

 tings and markings giving to it the effect of a yellowish- white. The egg is marked 

 over the entire surface with blotches, dashes, and lines of a light tint of a brown 

 tending to Vandyke. These are mixed with markings of a lighter purplish-brown. 

 The markings, of both shades, are chiefly oblong in shape, and run with the length 

 of the egg. They bear no resemblance to any eggs of the B. borealis that I have ever 

 seen, and are also quite unlike those of any other Hawk, so far as I am aware. 



The nest was discovered by Mr. Samuels, not far from Petaluma, California, close 

 to the Mission House, near Petaluma Flat. It was built on the top of a large ever- 

 green oak, at least seventy feet from the ground, and was constructed entirely of 

 large, coarse sticks, lined with a few stray feathers. The eggs were two in number, 

 and had been set upon a short time. The male bird was shot as it flew from the 

 nest, which was so hidden by the thick branches that it would have escaped detection. 



BTJTEO LINEATUS. 



Falco lineatus, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 268. 



" WILS. Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 86, pi. liii, fig. 3. 



" " AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 296 ; V, 380, pis. Ivi and Ixxi. 

 " " DE KAY, Nat. Hist. New York, 1844, pi. vi, fig. 13. 

 Falco hyemalis, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 26S. 



WILS. Am. On. IV, 1812, 73. 

 " " BONAP. Syn. 1828, p. 33. 



" " NUTTALL, Manual, I, 1832, 106. 



" " AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 364. 



Falco buteoides, NUTTALL, Manual, I, 1832, 100. 

 Buteo Jiyemalis, BONAP. Geog. and Comp. List, 1838, p. 3. 

 Buteo lineatus, AUD. Syn. 1839, p. 7. 



" Birds of America, I, 1840, 40, pi. ix. 



" CASSIN, Syn. N. A. Birds (Illust. Birds of Cal.), 1854, p. 99. 



'VuLG. The Red-shouldered Hawk. The Winter Hawk. Winter Falcon. Hen-Hawk. 

 Chicken-Hawk. 



THE northern limits of this common species have not been well ascertained. In 

 some cases they have been incorrectly stated. 1 Mr. Nuttall supposed it to be re- 



1 Mr. Audubon was, in his first issues, disposed to make two distinct species, based upon the mature 



