THE \\^ESTERN RED-TAIL. 505 



ochraceous : markings on sides of breast and belly blackish, clear-cut : tail entirely 

 dififerent, — gravish brown crossed bv nine or ten distinct narrow bands of 

 blackish.] 



Description. — Adult: Plumage chiefly blackish, sometimes uniform sooty, 

 except tail and its up])er coverts : individually variable between form nearly as 

 light as B. borcalis and deepest sooty brciwn ; breast usually extensively rufous, 

 and lower belly with more or less white, but these colors obliterated in completely 

 melanistic specimens : tail as in borcalis, with a conspicuous black subterminal bar 

 and often with several more or less complete additional bars. Iniiiiatiirc: As in 

 borcalis but darker thruout and more heavily spotted below : the plumage ( except 

 tail) sometimes wholly dusky as in adult. Adult male, length: 19.00-22.50 

 (482.6-571.5): wing 15.25 (387.4): tail 0.25 (235): culmen from cere abont 

 i.oo (25.4) : tarsus 3.00 (j6.2). .Vdult female, length: 22.50-25.00 (571.5-635) ; 

 wing 17.00 (431.8) : tail 10.00 (254) : culmen i.io (2j.i)) : tarsus 3.30 (83.8). 



Recognition Marks. — Crow to Brant size ; red tail of adult distinctive ; 

 stouter proportions and more regal bearing as compared with B. Sii'aiusonii. 



Nesting. — Xcst: a mass of sticks indifferently lined, or not at all, placed on 

 ledges of cliff's ( East-side) or high in trees : sometimes an old Crow's nest is 

 refitted. Eggs: 2-4, bluish white, stained, spotted, or blotched with reddish brown, 

 or, rarely, immaculate. Av. size, 2.40x1.83 (61x46.5). Season: April: one 

 brood. 



General Range. — Western North America, chiefly within the L'nited States, 

 from the Plains to the Pacific and south to Guatemala. 



Range in Washington. — East-side, common summer resident : \\'est-si(le, 

 not common summer resident, and casual resident in winter. 



Authorities. — Butco niontanus, Newberry, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. \'l. pt. 1\'. 

 1857, p. 75. T( ?). C&S. L-\ D'. Sr. Ra. D-\ Ss'. Ss-'. Kk. J. B. E. 



Specimens. — ( U. of ^^'. ) Prov. B. 



A "BURKE'S PEER.-\GE" of the birds might not mention the Buteos 

 under the head of royalty — Falco and Aqiiila are the autocrats par excellence — 

 but Red-tail's patent of nobility is very ancient, and is based upon the same 

 claims as those which human lords have set up: viz., a jiredatory ancestry, 

 unbroken possession of certain liroad acres for manv centuries, and a frown- 

 ing castle upon some sighth- hill. In this last respect the bird is not sur- 

 passed, in ^^^asl^ingt^ln at least, by that arrogant old Hapsburg, the Prairie 

 Falcon himself — of whom anon. 



As to the broad acres, chiefly game preserves (to carry out the whimsy), 

 the royal claim comes first (because, forsooth, the Falcon is the swifter bird) ; 

 and there is always a horde of retainers — Sparrow Hawks, Burrowing Owls, 

 IMagpies, and Ravens — to consider, before the overlord may count his yearly 

 rental of ground-squirrels, rabbits, mice, snakes, lizards, and the lesser fry. 

 Moreover, in these evil da}-s, the pirate Danes have swept dowm on the Red- 

 tail's coasts. ha\-e torn his acres with the plow and have burnt his gopher 

 fields with fire. Worst of all, these ruthless invaders, having no use them- 



