72 



riiB OOLOGIST 



This Hawk usually nests near the 

 top of a large three, a leaning White 

 Oak on the brow of a hill preferred, 

 giving a wide outlook from the nest. 

 It is large, and composed of sticks, 

 chips, grass, brush, weeds and rubbish 

 generally. Flat on top with a slight de- 

 pression for the eggs which are two or 

 three in number, in about the ratio of 

 three sets of two to one set of three; 

 occasionally there is a nest containing 

 four eggs; though I have never seen 

 one myself. The eggs vary in size 

 very much. In my collection the larg- 

 est set I have is one of the largest of 

 which there is any record.. The 

 eggs are exceptional' well mark- 

 ed over with heavy blotches and 

 spots of rusty red, brick red, 

 brown and lavender. They measure 

 2.45 X 1.99; 2.52 x 2.00; 2.50 x 2.01 

 inches. The smallest set I have are 

 more oblong in shape; one is almost 

 unmarked, while the ether has the 

 markings grouped like a ring around 

 one end. They are the smallest eggs 

 measure 2.29 x 1.64: 2.23 x 1.66 inches, 

 measure 2.29 xl.64; 2.23 x 1.66 inches. 

 Both of these sets of eggs I personally 

 collected. 



My series consists of thirty-two sets, 

 is the result of twenty years attention 

 to these birds, during which time I 

 have not taken one set in five that I 

 have examined in the nest. In this 

 latitude on a bright, clear, crisp day 

 in late March, it makes one seem good 

 to be alive as we treak over hill and 

 dale in search of the lordly Red Tail's 

 home. And right well do we earn a 

 new addition to our cabinet by climb- 

 ing three, four or five giant White 

 Oaks, Elms, cr Cottonwocds that we 

 get one set desirable. 



The "Bird Dcciors" have divided the 

 Red Tail into the following forms: 



A. O. U. No. 337, Red Tailed Hawk 

 (Buteo borealis.) 



This is a bird of mediJiim plumage, 



and ranges throughout Eastern North 

 America. West casually nearly to the 

 Rocky Mountains; North to Latitude 

 60, and South to Eastern Mexico; and 

 it is the common Red Tail of the East- 

 ern half of the United States. 



No. 337a, Krider's Hawk (Beuteo 

 borealis kriderii). 



This is the lightest form of Red 

 Tail; in some specimens, being very 

 light, and on parts of the body, pure 

 white. In ranges throughout the great 

 plains of the Western United States, 

 from Wyoming and the Dakotas and 

 Minnesota, South into Texas, and is 

 casually found in Iowa and Illinois. 



No. 337b, Western Red Tail (Buteo 

 borealis calurus). 



This is the dark form of the Red 

 Tail, frequently being very melonic, 

 and inhabits Western North America 

 from the Rocky Mountains to the Pa- 

 cific Coast. South in winter into Mexi- 

 co. It is casually found as far East as 

 Central Illinois, and is very plentiful 

 in parts of its range in the West. 



337d, Harlan's Hawk (Buteo bore- 

 alis harlani). 



This is the darkest form of the Red- 

 tail, and is found in the Gulf states, 

 and lower Mississippi Valley, North 

 casually to Pensylvania, Iowa and 

 Kansas; South to Central America. 



In its nesting, it is different from the 

 other Red Tails, in that it usually 

 places its nest in thick timber, where 

 there is no broad landscape that the 

 bird may view from the nest. 



Herewith we present a picture of 

 the well known naturalist, Isaac E. 

 Hess, of Philo, Illinois, caught in the 

 act of climbing for Red Tails' eggs in 

 Southeastern Illinois, during April, 

 1907. Mr. Hess is an authority on the 

 local habits of these birds in his 

 neighborhood. 



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