THE RED-TAILED HAWK. 403 



No. 180. 



RED-TAILED HAWK. 



A. O. U. No. 337. Buteo borealis (Gmel). 



Synonyms. HEN HAWK; CHICKEN HAWK; RED-TAIL; RED-TAILED 

 BUZZARD. 



Description. Adult : Above dark brown, fuscous, and grayish brown, 

 varied by rusty or ochraceous edgings, and outcropping whitish, especially about 

 head and neck ; primaries blackish-tipped, the first four deeply emarginate, the 

 inner ones indistinctly banded; tail deep rufous, crossed near end by a single 

 narrow bar of blackish; lighter from below, vinaceous or pearly pink; under 

 parts white or buffy white, rufous and brown-shaded on sides of neck and breast, 

 nearly meeting in center ; throat and upper breast with dusky, lanceolate streaks ; 

 sides with rhomboidal spots or transverse bars of rufous and dusky in various 

 patterns, nearly meeting across belly ; shanks faintly barred with rusty ; bill 

 plumbeous ; tarsus yellow, very stout ; claws black. Immature : Similar to adult 

 but more uniform in coloration, little buffy or ochraceous; markings on sides 

 of breast and belly blackish, clear-cut; tail entirely different, grayish brown 

 crossed by nine or ten distinct narrow bands of blackish. Such are the 

 typical plumages, but the departures from them are wide and various. In win- 

 ter resident birds often assume a partial albino plumage, with strongly marked 

 black and white, and pure albinos are not rare. "Melanism" or blackening of 

 plumage in various proportions is not unknown. Adult male length 19.00-22.50 

 (482.6-571.5) ; wing 15.25 (387.4) ; tail 9.25 (235.) ; oilmen from cere about 

 i.oo (25.4); tarsus 3.00 (76.2). Adult female length 22.50-25.00 (571.5-635.); 

 wing 17.00 (431.8) ; tail 10.00 (254.) ; culmen i.io (27.9) ; tarsus 3.30 (83.8). 



Recognition Marks. Brant size ; red tail of adult distinctive ; otherwise 

 known by large size, lighter under parts, and, with certainty, by stout tarsi. 



Nest. At middle or upper heights in trees ; of sticks, carelessly lined with 

 corn-pith, drying leaves, etc. Sometimes an old Crow's nest is refitted. Eggs, 

 2-4, bluish white, stained, spotted, or blotched with reddish brown. Av. size, 2.40 x 

 1.83 (61. x 46.5)- 



General Range. Eastern North America west to the Great Plains, north to 

 about latitude 60, south to eastern Mexico. Breeds throughout its range, ex- 

 cept possibly the extreme southern portion. 



Range in Ohio. Still common resident, or summer resident, of universal 

 distribution. Much less common than formerly. There is considerable shifting 

 of the species in winter, but birds are to be found more or less throughout the 

 state at that time. 



AMONG the Birds of Prey, this is one of the largest of the Hawks, and 

 stands next to the familiar Sparrow Hawk in ease of identification. Only 

 one of the birds which are commonly called Hawks is larger, and that one, 

 the American Rough-leg, is found only during the winter months in small 

 numbers in northern Ohio. Furthermore, the Rough-leg is a bird of the 



