176 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



reddish color, is distributed from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. 

 Nesting and eggs similar to those of B. I. alleni. Average size of the 

 eggs is 2.19x1.71. A set of two eggs in Mr. Norris' collection, 

 taken May 2, 1887, in Los Angeles county, California, measure 2.12 x 

 1.75, 2.04 X 1.77. They are grayish-white spotted with russet. 



340. Buteo abbreviatus Caban. [440.] 



Zone-tailed Ha'wk. 



Hab. Texas, Arizona and Southern California, south into the northern portion of South America. 



The Zone-tailed Hawk is a peculiar species, unlike any other of 

 the United States. It is slenderly built with long wings and tail and 

 in its various plumages is not yet well known. The bird is a Mexican 

 and Guatamalian species and is of quite general distribution in Texas 

 and Arizona where it frequents the wooded districts in the vicinity of 

 streams. Its food is small birds, quadrupeds, beetles, locusts and 

 grasshoppers. In Texas and Arizona this Hawk has been found 

 nesting in May, fresh eggs being taken by the middle of the month. 

 The nests are built on tall trees, such as cottonwood, ash, box-elders, 

 sycamore and cypress that fringe the streams. It is placed from fifteen 

 to forty feet from the ground, in the horizontal branches ; is large and 

 bulky, made of coarse sticks, lined with cottonwood leaves or Spanish 

 moss. When disturbed while incubating the bird is said to fly oflT, 

 uttering a loud whistling cry. The eggs are two to four in number ; 

 dull white, usually spotted, splashed or speckled, with rich chestnut or 

 umber-brown, chiefly at the larger end ; their average size is 2.15 x 1.70. 



341. Buteo albicaudatus Vieill [441.] 



'White-tailed Hawk. 



Hab. Rio Grande Valley of Texas, southward through Mexico, Central and most of South America. 



This fine Hawk is a rather common resident on the Rio Grande 

 of Southern Texas and southward. Dr. Merrill mentions two nests 

 which he found May 2, 1878, placed in the top of a yucca growing in 

 Palo Alto prairie, about seven miles from Fort Brown. The nests were 

 not more than eight feet from the ground, and were good-sized plat- 

 forms of twigs, with scarcely any lining. While examining these 

 nests, the parents sailed in circles overhead, constantly uttering a cry 

 resembling the bleating of a goat. Each nest contained one egg. The 

 first was fresh; size 2.35x1.91; dirty-white, with a few reddish 

 blotches at the smaller end. The second, partly incubated, was like 

 the first, but the blotches were rather sparsely distributed over the 

 entire ^%%\ size, 2.35 x 1.85. 



Mr. Edwin C. Davis found a nest of this Hawk seven miles south 

 of Fort Griffin, Texas, containing two slightly incubated eggs, on the 



