BED-TAILED HAWK 271 



Their slender build and long, rudder-like tail 

 enables them to swiftly wind their way through 

 the trees and to snatch a squirrel or a lizard from 

 the branches with as much apparent ease as they 

 swoop down upon their prey in the open lands. 

 Rabbits, mice, small birds, Bob-whites, and Ducks 

 help to make up their bill of fare. They often 

 boldly enter the door-yard, where I saw one of the 

 birds strike a hen, while in defense of her brood, 

 with a force that killed her, and then grasp in 

 its claws a half-grown chicken and triumphantly 

 carry it away." 



This is the last of the three brigands of the 

 family, and after following their gory records it is 

 pleasant to turn to the citizens of better repute. 



Bed-tailed Hawk : Buteo borealis. 

 (Plate XVI. p. 272.) 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Eastern North America, breed- 

 ing throughout most of its range. 



It is important to discriminate between the slen- 

 der, long-tailed, darting Accipiters the three 

 black sheep of the Hawk family, the Goshawk, 

 Sharp-shinned, and Cooper's Hawks and the 

 large, heavily-built, shorter-tailed, and slow-fly- 

 ing Buzzard Hawks or Buteos, which number 

 among them the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered 

 Hawks ; for the larger and most useful Hawks 

 have been confused with the small, injurious ones, 

 and the name Hen Hawk and Chicken Hawk 



