354 BUTEO LINEATUS, RED-SIIOULDERED BUZZARD. 



several stages being inseparably connected. The slighter departures from the normal 

 Eastern ist;iiidar(l ar<i the moiitdiins of Cassin, and most later writers, but probably not 

 of Nuttall ; the ciiiuax is re;w;hed in cahirus, Cassin. I adopt this name for the extreme 

 Western variety, ignoring the intermediate stages, which have been usually designated 

 montaiiHH. In all of these birds, whtn adult, the tail becomes chestnut-red on top, which 

 is never the case with swainsoni. 



The FaJcn buteo or Bufeo vulgaris of Audubon is uncertain — rather, let us say, it com- 

 prehends both the Western Red-tail and Swainsou's Buzzard, being ostensibly based 

 upon the latter, but the description and figure rather indicating the former. The Bu- 

 /to ?((0/i'ft«H.s of Nuttall (1840; not iu edition of 1832) is based on Audubon's ^' Falco 

 hateo" but the description is unmistakably that of swainsoni. I follow Mr. Ridgway 

 in relegating both these names to swainsoni, leaving calurus as the first distinctive name 

 of the Western Red-tail in all its variety. 



Swainsoni is the smaller species, perfectly distinct. The female is only about 21 inches 

 long; the form is less robust ; the wings are comparatively longer ; the legs slenderer. 

 This species was first noticed by Richardson and Swainson, who described and figured 

 it accurately, calling it " Buteo vulgaris," under the impression that it was identical 

 ■with the I']uropean bird. It was subsequently sejjarated Ity Bonaparte, in 1838, under 

 the name of B. swainso7ii, which it should bear. Its other synonyms are noticed be- 

 yond ; here, however, it may be remarked, that B. swainsoni of Cassin, 111. 1854, 98, is 

 not this species, but the Western Red-tail, as shown conclusively by his description, 

 although he cites the synonymy of swainsoni. His swainsoni of 18.58, however, is cor- 

 rectly so named. 



The Hen-Hawk is abundant in all parte of the West, as elsewhere iu 

 North America, and in all its variety has the same habits it shows iu 

 the East. I have obtained several specimens, of old and young, at Fort 

 Kandall, and very frequently observed the bird while I was traveling iu 

 Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota. The fuliginous styles (extreme of cahirus) 

 J have never seen iu the northwest, although in Arizona they were 

 nearly as common as the others, both occurring in the same localities. 

 These large Hawks are all heavy and rather inactive birds, ranking, iu 

 these respects, next to the species of Archihuteo. They are unfitted, 

 "both by their physical organization and temperament, for the daring 

 feats that the Falcons and Hawks execute, and usually prey upon game 

 disproportionate to their size, which they snatch as they pass along. I 

 have, however, tound nearly the whole of a rabbit in the craw. They 

 mate early, constructing a large and bulky, though shallow, nest in a 

 high tree, of sticks and smaller twigs, mixed toward the centre with 

 grass, moss, or other soft material, and often a few feathers. The eggs 

 are generally three in number, about 2.40 long by rather less than 2.00 

 broad. Tlu^y are dull whitish in color, sometimes with only a few mark- 

 ings of dull brownish-gray, but oftener extensively blotched with several 

 shades of rich brown. The young are a long time in acquiring the full 

 plumage. They are long full grown before the red of the tail appears, 

 aud this is usually in advance of the fulvous of the under parts that the 

 okl birds display. I have seen specimens with nearly perfect red tail, 

 yet showing pure white on the breast and the same elsewhere under- 

 neath, though marked with the usual dark-brown spots and streaks. 

 There is a great sexual difference in size, many males being found hardly 

 or not 20 inches long. 



'»• 



BUTEO LINEATUS, (Gm.) Jard. 



Red-shouldered Buzzard. 

 I 



a. Uneatus. 



Tdlcolineatus, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 263.— Lath., Ind. Oru. i, 1790, 27.— Daud., Tr. 

 Orn. ii, 1800, 'l58.— Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii, IhO'J, 113.— Cuv., R. A. i,2d ed. 334.— 

 WiLS., Am. Orn. vi, 1812, HG, pi. 53, f. 3.— Aud., Oru. Biog. i, 1832, 296, v, 1839, 

 380 ; pi. 56. 



