5 FIELD KEY TO THE LAND BIRDS. 
parts pinkish gray. It resembles the Passenger 
Pigeon, but is smaller and has a few black spots below 
the ear. It is usually found single or in pairs, in 
fields or by the roadside. A summer bird. 
BIRDS OF PREY. 
Raptores. 
Bitn. — Short, stout, strongly 
curved, sharp pointed. 
Freer. — Strong, with long, curved, 
pointed nails or talons 
(vultures excepted). 
Foop. — Living animals, as birds, 
mice, frogs, snakes, in- 
sects. Rarely carrion. 
HAWKS. 
%.. RED-TAILED HE N-—TDA W Khu 
borealis. — Length, 20 inches. Grayish brown above ; 
underparts white, with streaks on breast and sides ; 
tail bright rust red, with few narrow bars. Males 
and females are alike, but the young are more thickly 
streaked on the underparts, and have a gray tail with 
many narrow black bars. This is our strongest hawk, 
and is common in wooded districts. It is his habit to 
sit for hours on a dead limb of an isolated tree, wait- 
ing for something to turn up. At other times he 
hunts circling high in the air, calling to his mate, who 
flies low over the bushes to start the game. The call- 
note sounds somewhat like chee-ee-ee-ee. The prey 
of these hawks is anything they can manage, from 
rabbits and hens down to mice, snakes, and even 
insects. They are most destructive to Quails, and 
will watch a flock day after day, pouncing upon them 
as soon as they leave cover to go to the open fields to 
feed. This hawk stays all the year in his chosen dis- 
trict. 
