FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC. 203 



"Of 220 stomachs examined, 3 contained poultry; 12, other birds; 

 102, mice ; 40, other mammals ; 20, reptiles ; 39, batrachians ; 92, in- 

 sects ; 16, spiders ; 7, crawfish ; 1, earthworms ; 2, offal ; 3, fish ; and 

 14 were empty " (Fisher). 



339a. B. 1. alien! Ridgw. FLORIDA BED-SHOULDERED HAWK. Adults 

 of this species may easily be distinguished from those of B. lineatus by their 

 smaller size, grayish white head, with black shaft streaks and no rufous, the 

 smaller fuscous tips on the scapulars and interscapulars, which do not con- 

 ceal the ashy gray bases of the feathers, by the whitish or grayish cheeks 

 and throat, and the ochraceous-buff, indistinctly barred under parts. Im- 

 mature birds are very similar to those of B. lineatus, and can be distin- 

 guished only by their smaller size and darker color. 6 W., 11-00 ; T., 7'50 ; 

 B., 1-20. 



Range. Florida, north along the Atlantic coast to South Carolina, west 

 along the Gulf coast to eastern Texas. 



342. Buteo swainsoni Bonap. SWAINSON'S HAWK. Ad,. $ . Upper 

 parts fuscous-brown, more or less margined with rufous or buffy ; primaries 

 -unbarred, three outer ones "notched"; tail slightly grayer than the back, 

 with numerous indistinct, blackish bars showing more plainly on the under 

 surface; breast covered by a large, cinnamon-rufous patch ; belly white or 

 ochraceous-buff, streaked, spotted, or barred with blackish, rufous, or buff. 

 Ad. 9 . Similar, but larger, the breast patch of the same color as the back. 

 6 and 9 in dark or melanistic plumage. Entire plumage fuscous, the under 

 tail- and under wing-coverts and the tail sometimes spotted or barred. Im. 

 Upper parts fuscous-brown, widely margined with buffy and rufous; base of 

 the primaries grayish, and sometimes with a few broken bars ; tail much as in 

 the ad. ; under parts ochraceous-buff, spotted and streaked with blackish. 6 L., 

 20-00; W., 15-00; T., 8-50; B. from N., -75. 



Remarks. Between the light and dark phases of coloration there is every 

 degree of intergradation, but in any plumage this Hawk may be distinguished 

 from our other species by having only three outer primaries notched. In this 

 respect it agrees with B. latissimus, from which, however, it differs decidedly 

 both in size and color. 



Ran ge.~ Western North America, eastward to the Mississippi; breeds 

 from Texas to the arctic regions, and occasionally strays eastward to the At- 

 lantic States. 



JVest, in trees, thirty to eighty feet from the ground. Eggs, two to three, 

 varying from dull bluish white to creamy white, sometimes unmarked, but 

 generally more or less spotted or blotched with shades of cinnamon-brown, 

 2-30 x 1-72. 



Swainson's Hawk is of rare occurrence east of the Mississippi. Dr. 

 Fisher writes : " By preference it frequents the timber in the vicinity 

 of streams, though often it is found far out on the prairie, where its 

 only perch is the earth mound of some mammal, or some other 

 slightly elevated knoll." 



