94 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



Rocky Mountains to New Mexico, and in the West to Eastern 

 Washington and Oregon, being replaced westward by the sub- 

 species striatulus. Winters in the United States, chiefly south- 

 ward, but is nowhere common. 



Missouri collectors know that it is not easy to get a Goshawk 

 for their collections, and taxidermists say that years pass before 

 they get to see one. An exception was made this fall (1906) 

 when Mr. F. Schwarz, our leading St. Louis taxidermist, received 

 five fine adult birds (males and females) within one month from 

 the middle of November to the middle of December. From 

 observations of a long series of years we cannot but class the 

 Goshawk among the irregular and rather rare transient visitants 

 with a majority of dates from March 20 to April 10 and between 

 November 13 and December 20. As we find no record for Janu- 

 ary and only one for February we can hardly call it a winter 

 resident, though future observations may supply the missing 

 dates. An exceptionally early fall date is October 8, 1893, 

 obtained from Mr. Currier of Keokuk in the northeast corner 

 of the state, and an equally extraordinary late spring date. 

 May 6, 1843, one of Audubon's notes made near the northwest 

 corner on his journey up the Missouri River to the Yellowstone 

 River. 



*337. BuTEO BOREALis (Gmcl.). Red-tailed Hawk. 



Falco borealis. Falco leverianus. Buteo aquilinus. Red-tailed Buzzard. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America; north to New Found- 

 land, the British Provinces, Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan and 

 Alberta; west to eastern Nebraska and Colorado; south to 

 eastern Mexico. Breeds nearly throughout its range and winters 

 mostly in the Southern States, though some remain even in the 

 Northern States and all return very early to their breeding 

 ground. 



Within the last years the Red-tailed Hawk has decreased so 

 much in Missouri at all seasons that not more than one is left 

 where ten were seen twenty years ago. Every hunter and 

 many farmers deem it their duty to kill eveiy one of these singu- 

 larly defamed and misjudged benefactors, universally, but in- 

 appropriately, named Hen or Chicken Hawks, It cannot be 

 disputed that some individuals, when pressed by hunger or by 

 the clamor of a nestful of hungry mouths, take recourse to the 

 chicken yard and relieve a sickly old hen of all her troubles, or 

 teach a careless mother to take better care of her youngsters. 



