CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 259 
pairs of birds occupying the same bluff, and the nests are usually 
a quarter of a mile from each other. This hawk has a habit of 
lining its nest with green poplar leaves, and the eggs look very 
pretty lying on the green leaves. It is a most useful bird to the 
farmer, devouring an immense quantity of gophers and mice. 
(Ratne.) 
343. Broad-winged Hawk. 
Buteo platypterus (VIEILL.) FAXON. 1907. 
This species probably occurs in Newfoundland. (Reeks.) It is 
very rare in Nova Scotia. (Downs.) Rare summer resident in 
Nova Scotia. (H.. F. Tufts.) Not uncommon on Cape Breton 
island. (Townsend.) A rather rare summer resident in New 
Brunswick, according to most observers, but Mr. W. H. Moore 
reports it to be the most common hawk at Scotch Lake. It is in- 
creasingly common as we go west in the valley of the St. Lawrence. 
It is found all over Ontario and extends westward to Winnipeg, 
where it breeds. As a straggler, it has been seen by Seton at 
Carberry, in Manitoba. Sir John Richardson records its occur- 
rence at Moose Factory,on James bay,and in June, 1896, Mr. Spread- 
borough found it common on Moose river, but none were seen 
north of Moose Factory. This may be considered the northern 
limit. 
BREEDING NoTes.—I observed three of these hawks, old and 
young, 24th July, 1887, circling round above Mount Royal park, 
Montreal, and heard them uttering a note very much like that of 
a cowbird. I also saw a pair in the trees near the same place on 
June 4th of the same year, and probably they bred there. I have 
observed this species here from March 30th to October roth. 
(Winitle.) This species breeds about the middle of May, and seems 
to prefer a hemlock or swamp ash tree to nest in. The nest is 
placed about 20 feet or more from the ground, is composed of dry 
sticks and lined with pieces of bark and dead leaves and is rather 
larger than a crow’s. The eggs, two or more in number, are of a 
dirty yellowish or grayish white with blotches of reddish brown. 
This species is not rare around Ottawa, Ont. (G. R. White.)’ The 
writer shot a female of this species as she rose from her nest, which 
was on a swamp ash in what was then Stewart’s bush, within the 
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