Hawks BIRDS OF PREY. 



blue and cloudless ; in the distance hovers a bird of some 

 sort, but it is a mere speck. The Hen does not appear to 

 look up, but suddenly she becomes motionless. The speck 

 develops into a HaAvk, which nears, flying in circles and 

 descending at the same time, so that it is difficult to predict 

 where it will alight. The Hen crouches, spreads her wings, 

 and gives a short cry, different from her usual cluck ; instantly 

 the brood rushes pell-mell to the offered shelter, the wings 

 drop, and when the Hawk makes a final swoop within two 

 feet of the ground he finds nothing but a very broad- 

 backed and resolute Hen flattened in the dust, and he dis- 

 appears over the meadows without having paused an 

 instant. But his mate — for Hawks often prowl in pairs — 

 is still sailing far off and mother Hen, having had one nar- 

 row escape, hustles her family back to their barrel. 



Red-tailed Hawk : Butco horealis. 



Red Ilaivk; lien HatcJc.. 

 Plate X. Fig. 5. 



Length : 19-22 inches ; female, 22-24 inches. 



Male and Female : Above dark brown, variegated with white, gray, 

 and tawny ; below whitisli and buff, streaked across belly with 

 brown. Tail rust-red, witli a black band near end ; in young, 

 tail gray with numerous narrow brown bars. iVIoderate, liorn- 

 coloured bill ; feet stout and strong. 



Season : A common resident. 



Breeds : Through range. 



Nest : Built in March, in a tall tree in deep woods. A bulky affair of 

 sticks with an upper nest ; lined with soft bark like the Crow's. 



Eggs : 2-3, dirty white, thickly blotched with purplish brown. 



Range : Eastern North America, west to the Great Plains. 



Owing to different phases of plumage, it is often difficult 

 to identify the larger Hawks on the wing ; but the red tail 

 is a distinctive mark of the adults of this species at all 

 seasons. 



Farmers regard it as a nuisance, and kill it whenever 

 they can as a punishment for poultry stealing ; but Dr. 



218 



