28 

 and Sullivan Counties. 



337. Buteo borealis borealis ( Gmel . ) . Red-tailed Hawk. 



When Dr. Warren wrote his n Birds of Pennsylvania", 

 he classed the Red-tailed Hawk as the most common of our 

 raptors. Now, however, owing to constant persecution, it 

 has become a rare bird thru most of the central and eastern 

 counties and appears to be a common breeder only in the 

 southwestern and western counties. According to my friend, 

 Mr, S. S. Dickey, it is considerably less abundant than 

 formerly, but still remains a regular and fairly common 

 breeder in Fayette, Westmoreland, Washington, Green, Mercer , 

 Allegheny, and Pulton Counties. Mr. Engle has recently 

 collected eggs of this species in Somerset County and in 

 Warren County. Mr. Simpson says that it is scarce but 

 breeds regularly in the big timber in the mountains. With 

 the exception of Philadelphia County, it probably breeds in 

 every county of the state, but in northeastern and northern 

 Pennsylvania is far less common than the Red Shouldered 

 Hawk. In southeastern Pennsylvania, it is rare as a 

 breeder, tho it seems to nest regularly in the timbered 

 portions of Chester County. 



