RED-TAILED BUZZARD— HEN HAWK. 49 



color is a dull whitish, thickly marked in all the specimens 1 have 

 seen with splashes of brown of various shades. Some, however, are 

 much more marked than others, and I have seen eggs taken by 

 farmers, said to be Red-tails', which were hardly marked at all. 

 The eggs of our next and succeeding species, the Red-shouldered 

 Buzzard, are very similar to those of the Red-tail, and as both 

 species nest in like situations and resemble one other in general 

 appearance and habits, the one is often taken for the other. I 

 think, however, it will almost invariably be found that the eggs of 

 the former are perceptibly smaller than those of the latter. 



Mr. W'm. Couper informs me that he met with the nest of 

 this hawk in the month of August in the mountains near the 

 Mingan river, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence. The nest 

 contained two young birds, both of which were captured, and sub- 

 sequently taken to England by .Sir J. Smyth. Mr. Couper further 

 states that the Red-tail is an uncommon bird in the neighborhood 

 of Quebec, and that the specimens which have been taken are 

 mostly in adult plumage. This is singular, because in the vicinity 

 of Montreal, as we have already shown, the immature birds are 

 those most commonl)' met with. 



The Red-tailed Buzzard is a difficult bird to get within gun- 

 shot of when approached on foot, and so indeed are most 

 Hawks. It, however, is rather thrown off its guard when ap- 

 proached on horse-back or in a waggon, seeming under these 

 circumstances to have no suspicion ; but the instant the horseman 

 or waggon driver stops it is off. I have seen one of these birds 

 remain perched in a tree within an easy stone's-throw of a road 

 alony which a long; line of lumber-teams were driving with tre- 

 mendous noise ; yet when I cautiously attempted to get within 

 shooting-range of the same bird it at once grew restless, suspicious, 

 and quitted its stand long before I could get near enough ior a 

 sure shot. Sometimes I have suddenly come upon this bird 

 in the tall grass of a meadow or clearing, and obtained an easy 

 shot as it rose from the ground. This habit of frequenting and 

 hiding in long grass is often indulged in by the Red-tail, and I 



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