THE RED-TAILED HAWK. 403 
No. 180. 
RED-TAILED HAWK. 
A. O. U. No. 337. Buteo borealis (Gmel.). 
Synonyms.—Hren Hawk; CuHIcKEN Hawk; ReEpb-TaIL; REb-TAILED 
BUZZARD. 
Description— Adult: Above dark brown, fuscous, and grayish brown, 
varied by rusty or ochraceous edgings, and outcropping whitish, especially about 
head and neck; primaries blackish-tipped, the first four deeply emarginate, the 
inner ones indistinctly banded; tail deep rufous, crossed near end by a single 
narrow bar of blackish; lighter from below,—vinaceous or pearly pink; under 
parts white or buffy white, rufous—and brown-shaded on sides of neck and breast, 
nearly meeting in center; throat and upper breast with dusky, lanceolate streaks ; 
sides with rhomboidal spots or transverse bars of rufous and dusky in various 
patterns, nearly meeting across belly; shanks faintly barred with rusty; bill 
plumbeous; tarsus yellow, very stout; claws black. Immature: Similar to adult 
but more uniform in coloration —little buffy or ochraceous; markings on sides 
of breast and belly blackish, clear-cut; tail entirely different,—grayish brown 
crossed by nine or ten distinct narrow bands of blackish. Such are the 
typical plumages, but the departures from them are wide and various. In win- 
ter resident birds often assume a partial albino plumage, with strongly marked 
black and white, and pure albinos are not rare. “Melanism’ or blackening of 
plumage in various proportions is not unknown. Adult male length 19.00-22.50 
(482.6-571.5); wing 15.25 (387.4); tail 9.25 (235.); culmen from cere about 
1.00 (25.4); tarsus 3.00 (76.2). Adult female length 22.50-25.00 (571.5-635.) ; 
wing 17.00 (431.8) ; tail 10.00 (254.) ; culmen 1.10 (27.9) ; tarsus 3.30 (83.8). 
Recognition Marks.—Brant size; red tail of adult distinctive; otherwise 
known by large size, lighter under parts, and, with certainty, by stout tarsi. 
Nest.—At middle or upper heights in trees; of sticks, carelessly lined with 
corn-pith, drying leaves, etc. Sometimes an old Crow’s nest is refitted. Eggs, 
2-4, biuish white, stained, spotted, or blotched with reddish brown. Av. size, 2.40 x 
On (Oll-n as 4655))is 
General Range.—E astern North America west to the Great Plains, north to 
about latitude 60°, south to eastern Mexico. Breeds throughout its range, ex- 
cept possibly the extreme southern portion. 
Range in Ohio.—Still common resident, or summer resident, of universal 
distribution. Much less common than formerly. There is considerable shifting 
of the species in winter, but birds are to be found more or less throughout the 
state at that time. 
AMONG the Birds of Prey, this is one of the largest of the Hawks, and 
stands next to the familiar Sparrow Hawk in ease of identification. Only 
one of the birds which are commonly called Hawks is larger, and that one, 
the American Rough-leg, is found only during the winter months in small 
numbers in northern Ohio. Furthermore, the Rough-leg is a bird of the 
