84 BIRDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA 



337a. KRIDER'S HAWK (Buteo borealis krideri.) 



The Krider Hawk is a subspecies of the Red-tail and 

 similiar but lighter in plumage, being nearly white on the under 

 parts. It is of the same size and has the same feeding and nest- 

 ing habits. A few specimens have been taken in our State. 



339. RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (Buteo lineatus lineatus.) 



As far as we know this Hawk is rare in South Dakota, its 

 principal range being east of us. 



Among specimens taken in this range the male is about 

 twenty inches in length and the female twenty-two. Farther 

 south they are smaller. Above, dark reddish brown, shading to 

 rich brown on wings; head, neck, and under parts rufous, more 

 or less streaked with light and dark ; tail with several light nar- 

 row bands, and tipped with white. Young usually darker above 

 and lighter below. 



Its feeding and nesting habits are much the same as those 

 of the preceding species and it should therefore be protected. 



342. SWAINSON'S HAWK (Buteo sicainsoni.) 



In abundance this Hawk ranks next to the Marsh Hawk 

 in our State, being rather more common west of the Missouri 

 River, where it nests in cottonwood trees along wooded creeks. 



In size it is about the same as the Red-shouldered, viz., 

 twenty to twenty-two inches. Swainson's Hawk has such a wide 

 variation in plumage that any description must be of only gen- 

 eral application. Adults, on the back, usually plain sooty brown ; 

 throat nearly white, with under parts buff or tawny, blotched 

 with brown of the same shade as the back; flanks usually 

 barred; under tail dark slate crossed with several zigzag black 

 bars; a wider band near the tip. The young are usually much 

 darker, many specimens running to plain soot brown both above 

 and below, sometimes showing a rufous tinge and bars on the 

 flanks. 



These Hawks are said to nest on the ground and on cliffs 

 as well as in trees. Like many of our larger species they will 

 at times take possession of a last year's Crow's nest. Their food 

 consists of mice, gophers, large grasshoppers and crickets. 



