234 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



tion it belongs. The eggs of this species from near Tucson, Arizona, measure 

 ;is follows: First set, 53 by 43 and 54.5 by 42.5 millimetres; second set, 53.5 by 

 42, 53.5 by 42, and 55 by 41 millimetres. Mr. William Lloyd's specimen, 

 from Presidio County, Texas, measures 54 by 42 millimetres. On none of 

 these eggs are any markings visible. 



80. Buteo albicaudatus VIEILLOT. 







WHITE-TAILED HAWK. 



Buieo albicaudatus VIEILLOT, Nouveau Dictionaire, iv, 1816", 477. 



(B , C , R 441, C 513, U 341.) 



GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE : Whole of Middle America ; north to southern Texas ; 

 south to portions of eastern South America. 



This common Mexican and South American species, easily recognized 

 by its pure white underparts, is an abundant resident of the Gulf coast of 

 Texas and the lower Rio Grande Valley, the only localities within the 

 United States where it has been found to breed, as far as known at present. 



I believe that my friends, Dr. James C. Merrill, U. S. Army, and Mr. 

 George B. Sennett, who have both contributed so much to our knowledge of 

 the ornithology of the Lower Rio Grande, of Texas, were the first naturalists 

 who obtained the nest and eggs of this handsome Hawk within our borders. 

 The former, in speaking of this species, says: "This fine Hawk is rather a 

 common resident on the extensive prairies near the coast, especially about the 

 sand ridges covered with yuccas and cactus. Its habits appear to be like 

 those of the allied species of Prairie Hawks-. On the 2d of May, 1878, I 

 found two nests, each placed in the top of a yucca growing in Palo Alto 

 prairie about, 7 miles from the fort. The nests were not more than 8 feet 

 from the ground, and were good sized platforms of twigs with scarcely any 

 lining. While examining these nests, the parents sailed in circles overhead, 

 constantly uttering a cry much like the bleating of a goat. Each nest con- 

 tained one egg. The first was quite fresh and measures 2.35 by 1.91 inches 

 (about 59.7 by 48.5 millimetres). It is of a dirty white color with a few 

 reddish blotches at the smaller end. The second egg was partly incubated. 

 It resembles the first one, but the reddish blotches are rather sparingly dis- 

 tributed over the entire egg. It measures 2.35 by 1.85 inches (about 59.7 

 by 47 millimetres)." 1 



In the spring of 1882, while on a collecting trip on the Gulf coast, 

 near Corpus Christi, Texas, Capt. B. F. Goss found this species breeding 

 abundantly in that vicinity. He writes me: "We found the favorite breeding 

 places of the White-tailed Hawks to be a strip of open bushy land lying 

 between the thick line of timber and chaparral along the coast and the open 

 prairie. Any bush rising a little above the surrounding level seemed a suit- 



1 Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. i, 1878, pp. 156, 157. 



