Vol.XI 



Kennard o» Young Red-shouldered Ha-wks. 271 



scapulars beginning to grow, and the quills of his wing-coverts, as 

 well as those of his tail-feathers, were just beginning to appear. 



The second bird, which I took to be a couple of days the 

 younger, had, when I left him in his nest, barely a quill to be 

 seen ; when, however, I returned five days later, all the above 

 mentioned feathers had become well started, and the wing- 

 quills and scapulars were well along; while a few feathers 

 had appeared in the interscapular region. 



On June 12, 1S93, I procured three young birds alive from 

 another nest in Brookline, Mass. These birds by their subse- 

 quent growth proved to be about two days apart in age, and 

 the youngest and smallest of them, which I took to be a male, 

 and which I called 'Pete,' was but two or three days older than 

 the larger specimen I procured in 1SS9. On this ground I cal- 

 culated that these three birds must be between three and four 

 weeks old, and probably hatched about the 15th of May; some- 

 what later than my 1S89 birds were hatched. 



The subjoined diagram, showing the chronology of the 

 growth of the Hawk's feathers, is the result of the above data, 

 my deductions and notes and measurements taken at the times 

 stated. From June 12 I can guarantee them as accurate, while 

 on the days previous to that they may be only approximate, 

 owing to the uncertain data at hand. From June 12 I show 

 what progress the oldest Hawk made, while previous to that, 

 the lines and dates are made up from the observations on the 

 other two younger Hawks, and from data referring to the two 

 1889 Hawks. 



I called the 1893 Hawks 'Bute' (short for Buteo), 'Topsy' and 

 'Pete.' The first two were older than Pete, and I supposed 

 them then, and from their growth later, to be females. Bute, 

 when I got her, had all the feathers that I have spoken of with 

 regard to the 1889 Hawks, well developed. Her back feathers 

 were also well along and had spread upwards and downwards, 

 and there were, too, quite a lot of feathers on her breast. Dur- 

 ing the week June 12-1S, inclusive, all the rest of her feathers 

 either got well under way, or appeared, as shown by the 

 diagram. 



Topsy proved at first, by accurate observation, to be exactly 

 two days behind Bute in the growth of her feathers, though she 



