270 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



marked reticence, and instantly repels any attempted famil- 

 iarities. 



The eggs are ordinarily four in number, although from 

 two to three often constitute a nest-complement. The 

 ground-color is a dirty yellowish-white, more or less densely 

 spotted with reddish-brown blotches. In some specimens, 

 the markings are quite faint, while in others, finer and dar- 

 ker. They vary somewhat in size, even in the same nest ; 

 and have a slightly rounded-oval contour with one extremity 

 more obtuse than the other. In length, they vary from 1.99 

 to 2.14 inches, and in width, from 1.50 to 1.71 inches. 



Archibuteo lagopus, var. sancti-johannis, Re mi. 



The Rough-legged Hawk bears so close a resemblance 

 to its European congener, that the two have been generally 

 recognized as identical. Its range of distribution is -from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Territory of 

 New Mexico northward to the Arctic regions. It is a den- 

 izen of Washington Territory, but was not observed by Mr. 

 Dresser in Texas, nor bv Dr. Woodhouse in new Mexico, 

 but has been seen by others. In the Anderson River dis- 

 trict, Mr. Macfarlane found it breeding quite abundantly. 

 In the fur countries, according to Dr. Richardson, it arrives 

 in April or May, and retires early in October. In the neigh- 

 borhood of the Pueblo Zuni, Dr. Kennedy gives it a not 

 uncommon species. At Shoal-water Bay, Washington 

 Territory, vast numbers of these Buzzards were met with 

 by Dr. Cooper. Some wintered there, and, doubtless 

 nested near the mouth of the Columbia River, as young 

 birds were observed in July. In California, according to the 

 same writer, it is only a winter resident. In Arizona. Dr. 

 Cones captured a single specimen : but in Kansas, it is rather 

 abundant ; it is also to be met with in South eastern Dakota. 



In Eastern Pennsylvania, these birds are still as in the 

 time of Wilson, rather common winter residents in the 

 meadows along the Delaware and Schuvlkill Rivers, in 



