248 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



attacked a boy climbing to her nest, fastened her talons in his arm 

 and could not be removed until beaten off and killed with a club." 



The gentle broad wing would live in peace and harmony with its 

 neighbors; it apparently never attacks anything but its prey. But 

 its neighbors are not always kindly disposed toward it. I have seen 

 it chased and attacked by crows and once b}'^ a red-tailed hawk. 

 Others have seen it attacked by Cooper's hawk, sparrow hawk, king- 

 bird, and martin. Probably any bird might attack it if it came 

 too near a nest containing young, for it is well known to eat young 

 birds. But it has often been laiown to nest in the same patch of 

 woods with other Buteos, Accipiters, owls, crows, and various small 

 birds on apparent good terms. Dr. Charles W. Townsend has sent 

 me the following note : "I have several times seen at Ipswich, Mass., 

 in the autumn migrations a broad-winged hawk flying toward the 

 southwest momentarily enveloped in a dense flock of starlings. The 

 starlings performed evolutions, first on one side then on the other 

 of the hawk, and finally closed in on it from all sides. On one occa- 

 sion, after these maneuvers, the hawk dropped to the ground and 

 at once rose and entered the great flock of starlings flying above. 

 Neither species appeared to attack the other. Was this play or an 

 attempt on the part of the starlings to confuse the hawk and prevent 

 it from doing damage to them?" 



Voice. — The cry of the broad-winged hawk, when alarmed near its 

 nest, is very peculiar. I have written it in my notes as a shrill whistle 

 in a high key, long drawn out and plaintive, diminishing in force, 

 like kwee-e-e-e-e-e, or ker-wee-e-e-e-e-e. It has been likened to one 

 of the killdeer's notes or the song of the wood pewee; it somewhat 

 resembles both of these but is more monotonous, less accented than 

 either. To my ear it is quite distinctive and not to be mistaken for 

 anything else. "Burroughs calls it the smoothest, most ear-piercing 

 note he Imows of in the woods" (Burns, 1911). It has been vari- 

 ously recorded by others as kill-e-e-e, siggee^ tig-g-e-e-e^ che-wee-e-e^ 

 peeo-ioe-e-e-e, hu-e-e-e^ and various other syllables, all expressing it 

 fairly well. 



Field marks. — The broad-winged hawk may be recognized as a 

 Buteo by its shape and its broad, rounded wings, which are broader 

 in proportion to its size than in other Buteos. It is much smaller 

 than the other conmion Buteos. The adult, when soaring overhead, 

 has a distinctive color pattern, a white throat, brown-barred under 

 parts, tail barred with three black and three white broad bands, and 

 wings mainly white with dusky tips and a black spot near the bend. 

 The upper parts are dark brown, and the upper surface of the tail 

 shows gray and black bands in the same proportions as on the under 

 side. In immature plumage it is much like the young red-shouldered 

 hawk and cannot be recognized except by size and shape. 



