132 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



maxillary area. Lining of wings extensively blackish. Tail usually wiiite from 

 the base for some distance, then with dark and light barring. The inner webs of the 

 flight feathers extensively white from the base, usually with little, if any, of the 

 dark barring so prevalent among buteonine hawks. From such a light and varie- 

 gated plumage as this, the bird varies to more or less nearly uniform blackish, in 

 which case the tail is usually barred several times with white. * * Length of a 

 female, 22.00; extent, 54.00; wing, 17.50; tail, 9.00; iris light brown; bill mostly 

 blackish-blue, cere pale greenish-yellow, feet dull yellow, claws blue-black. This 

 is about an average size ; the male averages smaller." Cone's Key. 



Habitat. Whole of North America north of Mexico, breeding north of the United 

 States. 



In any plumage this bird can easily be distinguished from other of 

 our hawks by the tarsus, which is thickly feathered in front to the toes. 

 I have found the Rough-legged or Black Hawk in Pennsylvania dnly as 

 a winter sojourner, about the meadows and grass fields along or near 

 large streams. In the winter of 1879, when hunting along the Brandy- 

 wine creek, I saw seven of these hawks at one time, perched about on 

 trees in a meadow of some five acres in extent. In this locality the 

 species is usually found singly or in pairs. The Eough-legs generally 

 migrate northward about the middle of March : I have, however, ob- 

 served them here late in April. " Its migrations appear to be quite 

 regular and extensive more so, perhaps, than is generally supposed 

 though probably it does not differ from most hawks in this respect. 

 Birds of this family must follow their prey, wherever this leads them, 

 and only a few of the more powerful species, able to prey upon hares 

 and Ptarmigan, pass the winter in our highest latitudes. The Rough- 

 legged is a rather northerly species, rarely, if ever, breeding within the 

 limits of the United States, and becoming rarer towards its southern 

 terminus." Coues. 



I desire to correct here an error which I am confident was made in 

 the first issue of the Birds of Penna., pp 92-93, where I stated, on the 

 authority of Mr. Samuel B. Ladd, of West Chester, Pa., that he (Mr. 

 Ladd) had, April 5, 1886, found a nest and two eggs of this bird, in a 

 thick woods at Fite's Eddy, on the Susquehanna river. A description 

 of the nest and eggs was published in my first report, as given to me 

 by Mr. Ladd, but I have since learned from Mr. Ladd that he did not 

 secure or even see the hawks, hence I am satisfied that this " record " 

 was without doubt based on erroneous identification. Dr. C. H. Mer- 

 riam, Ornithologist, United States Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, D. C., informs me that he is not aware of a single authentic record 

 of the breeding of the Rough-legged Hawk anywhere within the limits 

 of the United States. 



" It is a sluggish bird, and confines itself to the meadows and low 

 grounds bordering the rivers and salt marshes along our bays and inlets. 

 In such places you may see it perched on a stake, where it remains for 

 hours at a time, unless some wounded bird comes in sight, when it sails 

 after it, and secures it without manifesting- much swiftness of flight. It 



