126 FALCONID.^ : HAWKS. 



from 2.00 to 2.15 long, by 1.70 to 1.72 broad; dirty 

 yellowish-white, covered more or less thickly in the 

 different specimens with spots and blotches of reddish- 

 brown. Other specimens had fainter markings, while 

 in others, again, the spots were finer and darker. The 

 nest, of which little was learned until of late years, has 

 been found frequently in Massachusetts, near Boston, 

 Springfield, Williamstown, Newton, West Roxbury, and 

 Leverett ; in the latter place, on Mount Toby, the bird 

 is apparently a regular breeder, both on the Leverett 

 and on the Sunderland side. In Connecticut, Mr. 

 Merriam says : It breeds sparingly about New Haven, 

 and Mr. W. W. Coe has taken quite a number of their 

 nests, together with several of the finest birds that I 

 have ever seen in the vicinity of Portland, Conn. (B. 

 Conn. 1877, p. S7.) 



ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 



Archibuteo lagopus sanct-johannis (G7;i.) Ridg. 



Chars. Large hawks with the tarsi feathered in front to the toes ; 

 about 2 feet long ; wing 16.00-18.00 ; tail 8.00-10.00. Four outer 

 primaries emarginate on inner web. Below, white, variously 

 dark-marked, and often with a broad black abdominal zone ; but 

 generally no ferruginous. North America ; abundant. The 

 so-called " black hawk " is a melanotic state, in which the whole 

 plumage is nearly uniform blackish. 



This large Hawk, in black or the other plumage 

 easily recognized by the feathered shank, is a north- 

 erner ; seldom, if ever, found in summer in our country; 

 though the black variety is given by Dr. Brewer as 

 resident in Maine. It is a bird of very irregular distri- 

 bution ; being particularly attached to low wet meadows, 



