THE RED-TAILED HAWK. 30 
BUTEO BOREALIS. — Vieillot. 
The Red-tailed Hawk. 
Falco borealis, Leverianus, and Jamaicensis,Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 266 (1788). 
Falco aquilinus, Bartram. Travy., p. 290 (1791). 
Buteo ferrugineicaudus, Vieillot. Ois. d’Am. Sept., I. 82 (1807). 
Accipiter ruficaudus, Vieillot. Ois. d’Am. Sept., I. 43 (1807). 
Buteo fulvous and Americanus, Vieillot. Nouv. Dict., IV. 472, 477 (1816). 
DESCRIPTION. 
Adult. — Tail bright rufous, narrowly tipped with white, and having a subtermi- 
nal band of black; entire upper parts dark umber-brown, lighter and with fulvous 
edgings on the head and neck; upper tail coverts yellowish-white, with rufous and 
brown spots and bands; throat white, with narrow longitudinal stripes of brown; 
other under parts pale yellowish-white, with longitudinal lines and spots of reddish- 
brown, tinged with fulvous; most numerous on the breast, and forming an irregular 
band across the abdomen; under tail coverts and tibie generally clear yellowish- 
white, unspotted, but the latter frequently spotted and transversely barred with 
light rufous; under surface of tail silvery-white. 
Young. — Tail usually ashy-brown, with numerous bands of a darker shade of 
the same color, and narrowly tipped with white; upper tail coverts white, with 
bands of dark-brown; other upper parts dark umber-brown, many feathers edged 
with dull white and with partially concealed spots of white; entire under parts 
white, sides of the breast with large ovate spots of brownish-black, and with a wide 
irregular band on the abdomen, composed of spots of the same color; under tail 
coverts and tibize with irregular transverse stripes and sagittate spots of dark-brown ; 
bill, blue-black; cere and sides of the mouth, yellow tinged with green; legs yellow; 
iris pale amber. 
Total length of female, about twenty-three inches; wing, fifteen to sixteen 
inches; tail, eight and a half inches. Male, nineteen to twenty-one inches; wing, 
fourteen inches; tail, seven and a half to eight inches. 
The Red-tailed Hawk is a common resident of all the 
New-England States throughout the year. Its habits are 
so well known that a description here is hardly needed. 
Kyery one has noticed this hawk up in the air, at a consider- 
able height, soaring in extended circles, and uttering the 
oft-repeated cry, kae, kae, kae, as he examines the earth 
beneath him for prey. Audubon was of the opinion, that 
the bird emitted this shriek for the purpose of attracting the 
notice of birds and animals beneath, and causing them to 
fly to a place of concealment, thus giving him a knowledge 
of their whereabouts. This supposition is not improbable ; 
for he is often observed descending with great rapidity 
towards a bird that has taken flight at his outcries. 
