BROAD-WINGED HAWK 275 



Broad- winged Hawk : Buteo latissimus. 



Adults, upper parts dark brown ; tail with two light bars ; under 

 parts heavily barred with reddish brown. Young, tail with three 

 to five indistinct bars ; under parts white, streaked with brown. 

 Length, male, about 16 inches ; female, about 16| inches. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Eastern North America, south to 

 northern South America; breeds throughout eastern North 

 America from New Brunswick and Saskatchewan southward 

 to Florida and Texas. 



This is another of the beneficial Buteo family, 

 and its food consists principally of insects, small 

 mammals, reptiles, batrachians, and occasionally 

 a young or disabled bird. 



It is a quiet bird, and during the early sum- 

 mer, Doctor Fisher notes, it " often may be seen 

 sitting for hours on the dead top of some high 

 tree. At other times it is found on the smaller 

 trees in the deep woods, along streams, or on the 

 ground, where its food is more often procured. 

 Although sluggish and unusually heavy in its 

 flight, it is capable of rapid motion, and some- 

 times soars high in the air." 



The Broad-wing is the common Hawk of the 

 Adirondacks, and nests about small lakes, where 

 it can find the mice, shrews, and squirrels upon 

 which it lives. Its call note is said to resemble 

 that of the Kildeer Plover. 



