146 



Mr. Cassin, for the first time, refers to this hawk as a distinct 

 species from the variety found in the eastern States. ( B. bcrealis.) 



Two eggs belonging to a bird of this species were obtained by 

 Mr. Samuels near Petahnna, California, in 1856, one of which 

 measures 2j^^ inches in length, by \\^ inches in its greatest 

 breadth. The shape of the egg is an almost exact ovoid, slightly 

 tending to a spheroid, one end being hardly perceptibly larger 

 than the other. Its grovind color is a very light buff, the spottings 

 and markings giving to it the effect of a yellowish-white. The 

 egg is marked over the entire surface with blotches, dashes, and 

 lines of a light tint of a brown tending to Vandyke. These are 

 mixed with markings of a lighter purplish-brown. The mark- 

 ings, of both shades, are chiefly oblong in shape, and run with the 

 length of the egg. They bear no i-esemblance to any eggs of the 

 B. horealis that I have ever seen, and are also quite unlike those 

 of any other hawk, so far as I am aware. 



The nest was discovered by Mr. Samuels, not far from Peta- 

 luraa, California, close to the Mission House, near Petaluma Flat. 

 It was built on the top of a large evergreen oak, at least seventy 

 feet from the ground, and was constructed entirely of large, 

 coarse sticks, lined with a iew stray feathers. The eggs were 

 two in number, and had been set upon a short time. The male 

 bird was shot as it flew from the nest, which was so hidden by 

 the thick branches that it would have escaped detection. 



Buteo calurus, Cassin. Black Red-tail Hawk. This hawk is 

 comparatively a new species, having been met with for the first 

 time by T. Charlton Henry, M. D., U. S. Army, in the vicinity 

 of Fort Webster, New Mexico, and described by Mr. Cassin in 

 the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadel- 

 phia, February, 1855, p. 277. The specimen obtained by Mr. 

 Samuels, with the egg, is the second that has been discovered at 

 the j)resent time, so far as I am aware. In regard to its habits 

 and specific peculiarities but little is known, and its geographical 

 distribution can only be conjectured from the two points, about a 

 thousand miles apart, where the two representatives of this spe- 

 cies were obtained, — Fort Webster and Petaluma. 



The nest was found by Mr. Samuels on a hill north of Peta- 

 luma, California. It was built near the top of an evergreen oak, 



