180 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



These birds purposely select a pine tree or cypress that stands a bit 

 away from the forest or if in a swamp, then at its edge, so that they 

 can see out on the open country." 



Joseph C. Howell has sent me data on 10 nests that he has exam- 

 ined. Two of these were in oaks and only 20 feet from the ground. 

 The others were all in pines ranging in elevation from 17 to 60 

 feet, most of them from 40 to 50 feet up. One nest that he de- 

 scribes as a large one measured 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet in 

 height; the inner cavity was 9 inches across and 3 inches deep; it 

 was an old nest that had been repaired. "The foundation of the 

 nest was largely of good-sized pine twigs, with one oak limb and a 

 piece of palm boot here and there. The lining was of pine needles, 

 mostly green, pure white down from the parent, live Spanish moss, 

 bits of dead palm frond, and a few strips of green palm leaf." 



Eggs. — The eggs of the Florida redtail apparently do not differ 

 materially from other redtails' eggs. The set I collected happened 

 to be more heavily marked than usual, but I have seen others nearly, 

 or quite, immaculate. The measurements of 32 eggs average 60 by 

 47.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 65.1 

 by 45.3, 61.3 by 49.3, 54.6 by 47.5, and 61.7 by 43.8 millimeters. 



Behavior. — We noticed nothing in the habits of this hawk that 

 differed from those of its northern relatives. It is very shy, but 

 that is true of the species elsewhere. Its food seems to consist mainly 

 of mammals, such as rabbits and cotton rats; no evidence of bird 

 killing was seen. 



BUTEO LINEATUS LINEATUS (Gmelin) 

 NORTHERN RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 



HABITS 



The well-known red-shouldered hawk, with its various races, is 

 widely distributed throughout the eastern and southern portions of 

 the United States and southern Canada, wherever it can find suitable 

 environment in well-watered woodlands scattered through open 

 country, even in quite thickly settled farming country, or in wooded 

 river bottoms. In such localities it is generally the best known and 

 commonest hawk. It is less common than the broadwing in ex- 

 tensive heavily forested regions and less common than the redtail 

 in the open country of the Middle West. It is very rare, or prac- 

 tically unknown, on the western prairies and arid plains, or in the 

 northern coniferous forests. The northern form ranges, as a breed- 

 ing bird, west to the eastern edge of the Great Plains and south to 

 North Carolina. 



Spring. — Although the red-shouldered hawk has been called the 

 "winter hawk", it hardly deserves that name in New England, where 

 it is much less hardy than the red-tailed hawk and is seldom seen in 



