788 UK PORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



Subgenus TACHYTRIOBCHIS Kaup. 



*137. (343). Buteo latissimus (WILS.). 



Broad- winged Hawk. 



Adult. Above, dusky-brownish, darker on back; below, brownish, 

 dull rufous, or rusty, more or less broken by white transverse spotting; 

 lower belly, white, barred with dull rufous; tail, blackish, crossed by 

 two to four bands of gray or brownish-white. Immature. Entire 

 under parts, dull white or buffy, with longitudinal brown or dusky 

 streaks on breast and sides; tail, grayish-brown, crossed by five to seven 

 narrow bands of dusky. 



Length, 13.25-18.00; wing, 9.75-11.40; tail, 6.50-8.00. (Fisher). 



RANGE. America, from Ecuador north over eastern North America 

 to New Brunswick, Hudson Bay. Breeds from Cuba and southern 

 United States northward. Winters from New York and in Mississippi 

 Valley from latitude 40 south. 



Nest, in trees, of sticks, lined with strips of bark and leaves. Eggs, 

 2-4; dull grayish-white, spotted and blotched with different shades of 

 brown, hazel, drab and fawn-color, also, sometimes, shell markings 

 (Bendire); 1.93 by 1.56. 



Resident in southern Indiana; summer resident northward. Not 

 common. Most often seen in spring and fall. Mr. C. E. Aiken tells 

 me it breeds in Lake County, and Mr. Robert Ridgway notes its breed- 

 ing in Knox and Gibson counties. In the northern part of the State 

 they depart from August till the coming of severe weather, and return 

 in March or early April. 



This Buteo is much smaller than either the Red-tailed or Red-shoul- 

 dered. It nests later, usually in May or June. The nests are smaller, 

 and sometimes a crow's nest is occupied. It has been known to nest 

 in the fork of a tree, within three feet of the ground. The sites range 

 from that to about 60 feet high. The eggs are deposited at intervals 

 of one or two days. But one brood is raised. Both parents incubate 

 and care for the young. The incubation period is from twenty-one to 

 twenty-five days. The following summary of the stomachs of 65 of 

 these Hawks examined shows that 2 contained small birds; 15, mice; 

 13, other mammals; 11, reptiles; 13, batrachians; 30, insects; 2, earth- 

 worms; 4, crawfish; and 7 were empty (Fisher, Hawks and Owls of 

 U. S., p. 83). This Hawk is valuable because of its destruction of 

 mice and other mammals and insects. In the meadows it wages war 

 upon grasshoppers, crickets, May beetles and other beetles; and in the 

 orchards and woods, upon caterpillars, the larvae of large moths, which 

 feed upon the foliage. This Hawk is much more beneficial than 

 otherwise, and is worthy of protection. 



