242 ' LIFi^ HISTOEIES OF NOETH AMEKIOAN BIRDS. 



Florida, and au egg collected by Mr. H. B. Moore, near Manatee, Florida, in the 

 spring of 1872, and now in theU. S. National Museum collection, entered 

 as one of Biiteo I'meatus, is so small tliat it would seem much more likely 

 referable to this species. Mr. W. E. D. Scott and other well known ornithol- 

 ogists who have collected extensively in Florida dimng the past ten years, 

 do not appear to have met with it during the breeding season, but as it is 

 reported to breed in Cuba it is reasonable to suppose that the same is true of 

 our southern border. Dr. A. K. Fisher tells me that he saw a pair near 

 Mobile, Alabama, in May, 1886, which acted as if they had a nest in the 

 vicinity. 



Throughout the Central and Northern States it is somewhat irregularly 

 distributed, being common in some sections and rare in others. As it is emi- 

 nently a bird of the larger forests, and seldom seen in the more open and 

 cultivated country, its abundance in certain regions and scarcity in others can 

 be readily accounted for. 



Dr. William L. Ralph, of Utica, New York, writes me as follows: "The 

 Broad-winged is the Hawk of the Adirondack wilderness, and it replaces in 

 this locality the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Buteos which are so common 

 in the smaller woods of the more settled parts of this State. I think that 

 with the exception of the- Pigeon Hawk and Goshawk, which probably breed 

 here also but are very rare, they are the only Hawks that nest in the interior 

 of these woods, but along the borders they are sometimes found breeding in 

 the same situations as the more common species. 



"They are to be found in considerable numbers in this wilderness, or at 

 least that part of it lying within the counties of Hamilton, Herkimer, and 

 Oneida, but they are evidently rare in the more open country. 



"I never met with them during the breeding season in any other locality, 

 with the exception of a small district a few miles south of Utica, wliere three 

 or four nests have been taken during the last fifteen years. They are very 

 fond of living near water, and their nests are always to be found in close 

 proximity to the lakes and streams which are so numerous in the Adirondack 

 region. The smaller lakes especially are favorite places of resort, and when 

 a pair takes possession of one they apparently hold it against all intruders of 

 their kind. 



"I have never seen more than a single pair in close proximity to one of 

 these small lakes. They frequent them on account of the mice, chipmunks, 

 shrews, and frogs that usually live in large numbers along the shores, and 

 which seem to form their principal food. 



"Most writers on this species say that it is a very quiet bird, and should 

 one of their nests be disturbed, it will fly silently away and make no protest 

 whatever. Now, while the statement that it is a quiet bird evidently holds 

 good for the greater part of the year, my experience shows that it is just 

 the opposite during the breeding season; then it is as noisy as any Hawk 

 I know of. When one is driven from its nest it at once utters a shrill call, 



