CLASS AVES 



60 5 



FIG. 494. Swainson's hawk, Buteo 

 sivainsoni. (From Fisher, Yearbook U. S. 

 Dep't Agric., 1894.) 



these birds are of medium 



size and active. The wings 



are long and pointed, and 



the bill has a pronounced 



notch and tooth. 



The two species of cara- 



caras that reach the* United 



States are known as carrion- 

 buzzards. Audubon's cara- 



cara, Polyborus cheriway, is 



found in Florida. It lives 



largely on carrion, but also 



captures frogs, lizards, and 



snakes. 



The BUTEONID^: are the 



kites, buzzards, eagles, hawks, ospreys, Old-world vultures, and 



harriers. Common North American representatives of these 



groups are the swallow- 

 tailed kite, Elanoides for- 

 ficatus, which occurs in the 

 warm temperate regions; 

 the osprey, or fish-hawk, 

 Pandion haliaetus caro- 

 linensis, inhabiting temper- 

 ate and tropical America; 

 the bald eagle, Haliaetus 

 leucocephalus, generally dis- 

 tributed in North America; 

 the red-shouldered hawk, 

 Buteo lineatus ; Swainson's 

 hawk, Buteo swainsoni 

 (Fig. 494) ; the marsh- 

 hawk, or harrier, Circus 

 FIG. 495. Cooper's hawk, Accipiter !.,]*;* . the red tail eH 



coo peri. (From Fisher, Yearbook U. S. nu asomus > 



Dep't Agric., 1894.) hawk, or buzzard, Buteo 



