THE HAWKS OF NEW ENGLAND. 595 



hawks are most abundant during the last part of summer, and at 

 that time if a flock of poultry should stray out into the field a 

 single hawk will sometimes kill two or three of them before they 

 have reached a place of safety. 



Although only a buzzard, he kills his prey with a single stroke, 

 like a true falcon, and his capacity is enormous, yet sometimes 

 for .weeks together he is content to live entirely on mice and 

 grasshoppers. His color is grayish brown above, and yellowish 

 white beneath, with traces of rusty red on the tail feathers, which, 

 when the bird is in full plumage, become wholly red with a black 

 band near the tip. 



But trying to know hawks by their colors is uncertain work 

 at best, as members of most species change their entire coloring 



RED-TAILED HAWK. 



at least once in their lifetime. These changes are popularly as- 

 cribed to age, birds in full plumage being spoken of as old ones, 

 though they .have always seemed to me to depend more on the 

 general vigor of the bird, as it is not uncommon to find specimens 

 showing every mark of great age, with stiff joints and beaks and 

 claws worn blunt, in precisely the same attire as when they left 

 the nest, while those in full plumage, as far as my observation 

 goes, are never very old, and are always in excellent condition. 



The red-shouldered hawk is smaller and more lightly built 

 than his cousin, and he has a longer tail. In full plumage he is 

 rich brown on the back, with wings and tail barred with black 

 and white, and chestnut-colored shoulder patches. Beneath he is 

 dull red, more or less barred and spotted with white. Young 

 birds are much the same color as redtailed hawks. This bird 



