CANADIAN FALCONID^. 445 



B. lineatus, the name given to the red shouldered hawk of Wilson, 

 is now extended to his Winter -hawk also. The late eminent naturalist, 

 Charles Lucien Buonaparte, Prince of Canino, promulgated the opinion 

 that the red shouldered hawk, is the young male of the Winter-hawk, 

 to which view Gray and others have assented. It is with great hesi- 

 tation I suggest a doubt in opposition to such authorities, but in the 

 collection of the University, we have four examples of the Winter- 

 hawk, two of them apparently well-grown, the others, which were shot 

 together, seeming to be a young pair considerably below the full size, 

 yet all of them present precisely the characters of the Winter-hawk ; 

 whilst we have also a fair specimen of the red shouldered hawk, which 

 looks like an older bird than the pair already noticed, and the mark- 

 ings of which differ so essentially in points usually to be relied upon, 

 as the number and nature of the bars on the tail, that a strong pre- 

 sumption arises in favour of its being a distinct species. Accordingly 

 I have thought it best for the present, to label only the red shouldered 

 hawk, Buteo lineatus, and to mark the others, Buteo hyemalis, and I 

 should be particularly glad of the aid of practical observers and sports- 

 men in settling the question. Of another rare species, Mr, Passmore 

 has lately supplied us with a specimen, from this neighbourhood, 

 Buteo P ennsylvanicus, the broad-winged hawk or buzzard, a bird dis- 

 covered by Wilson, near Philadelphia, and less common than most of 

 the tribe. Its moderate size, the comparative width of its wing, and 

 the few white bars across its tail, serve to distinguish it. • 



Passing now to the genus Archebuteo, we find that Mr. G. Gray, in 

 "the Genera of Birds," considers Archebuteo lagopus as belonging ex- 

 clusively to Europe, and refers all the American birds to Archebuteo 

 Sancti-Johannis . Not doubting but that this opinion is founded on a 

 careful consideration of evidence, and having before me a good set of 

 specimens, I have endeavoured to make out his reasons, but I cannot 

 satisfy myself. It is true there are authorities, both English and 

 American, for very dark birds, supposed to be of advanced age, being 

 occasionally seen amongst the others, and the wings of our European 

 specimen seem to be longer than those of the American ; but most 

 persons looking at the European and American birds in their lighter 

 suit, would pronounce them one species. It seems certain that this is 

 their full ordinary plumage, as they are knovsTi to breed in it, and the 

 darker birds are much rarer in America and still more remarkably in 

 Europe. If the striking difference of colour does not mark a species, 



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