RED-TAILED HAWK 
337. Buteo borealis. 21 in. 
One of the handsomest and most powerfully built 
of our hawks. Adults with the tail rusty-red, with or 
without a narrow blackish band near the tip; below 
white, with a band of blackish streaks across the 
breast, and dusky markings on the sides. Young birds 
are similar, but have the tail grayish-brown with 
black bands. An examination of the food of this bird 
of prey, made by the Department of Agriculture, shows 
that, instead of living upon poultry as most farmers 
think, their food consists chiefly of frogs, snakes, liz- 
ards, mice and insects, less than one in ten of the 
stomachs examined containing any remains of poultry. 
Notes.—A shrill whistle or scream. 
Nest.—Of sticks, weeds, leaves and trash high up 
in tall trees; eggs white, spotted with blackish-brown. 
Range.—Breeds in United States and Southern Can- 
ada; winters in the United States. 337a., Kvider Hawk 
is a paler race found on the plains from Minn. to 
Texas. 337d., Harlan Hawk, is darker and has the 
tail mottled with blackish; found in the Gulf States. 
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