Buteo Lineatus (Gm.) [ard. 



BED-SHOULDERED BUZZARD; WINTER FALCON. 



PLATKS XI & XII 



If it is not the Red-tail the traveller in Canada sees during 

 the spring months circling over our fields and wood-lands, he will 

 not often be mistaken in setting it down as the bird figured on 

 one of the accompanying plates, namely, either the adult Red- 

 shouldered Hawk or its immature form, the Winter Falcon. This 

 is another of those species in which the young differ greatly from 

 the adult birds — the former until comparatively recently being 

 described as specifically distinct by a number of authors under the 

 name Falco hyemalis. This last form, or in other words, the 

 immature bird, is that most frequently met with throughout 

 Canada in the summer months, but during April and May I have 

 collected a great number of fine adult birds of both sexes. The 

 Red-shouldered Hawk is undoubtedly one of our commonest 

 species in one or other of its stages, and it is equally so through- 

 out the Atlantic States. In its habits, manner of flieht, and g-eneral 



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appearance it much resembles the Red-tail, but is a slightly smaller 

 bird — the male generally being from i8 to 20 inches, and the 

 female 21 to 23 inches in length. Perhaps it is to this species 

 that the appellation of Hen Hawk is most commonly given in 

 Canada. The latitudinal range of the Red-shouldered Hawk 

 appears to be more restricted than that of any other species in the 

 family. There is no authentic account of its occurrence in high 

 latitudes, nof yet in any portion of the fur countries. It reaches, 

 however, across the continent, being found on the Pacific slopes, 

 where, as might be expected, its tint of coloring is brighter and 

 more ferruginous. This western plumage was for some time, 

 indeed until very recently, considered to characterize a bird speci- 

 fically distinct from the Red-shouldered Hawk of eastern North 

 America, and was described by Cassin as Butco clcgans. It is, 

 however, simply another example of the invariably assumed rufous 



