78 



THE OOLOGlSt 



WHITE-TAILED HAWK. 



(Buteo albicandus) 



It has been my pleasure to study 

 the habits and collect the eggs of 

 many of our birds of prey. As I begin 

 this article, my mind reverts to some 

 of my earlier experiences when, in 

 company with the present Editor of 

 the Oologist, we scoured the heavily 

 timbered bluffs and ravines along the 

 Illinois river in quest first of the nests 

 of the early Bubo, then of the Redtail, 

 and a little later those of the Red- 

 shouldered Hawk. Many of those 

 nests were in mighty monarchs of the 

 forest far above the surface of mother 

 earth, but we always went prepared, 

 and, if anything of special value was 

 to be obtained, we never let the record 

 "inaccessible" be inscribed in our note- 

 books. 



Since that time I have been privi- 

 leged to collect in other fields, and it 

 may be of interest to the readers of 

 this journal to learn something about 

 a buteo which I consider the most at- 

 tractive of this genus. The White- 

 tailed Hawk is known in southern 

 Texas as the prairie hawk and the 

 White-breasted Hawk. It is plentiful- 

 ly distributed over the lowlands 

 wherever it is open or sparsely cov- 

 ered with bushes and stunted trees, 

 but does not frequent the rough, hilly 

 portions nor the timbered river bot- 

 toms. It is said to be found also in 

 western Texas on the high, level areas 

 which have a scant growth of vegeta- 

 tion and it is a characteristic species 

 westward and south into Mexico in lo- 

 calities similar to those that I have 

 just described. Generally it is shy, 

 not allowing a near approach, but 

 other times I have found it sluggish 

 and in several instances I have been 

 able to get within easy gunshot of it. 

 In the country between the Neuces 

 and the Rio Grande rivers, where I 

 have observed it, . it is resident, and 



yet it appears more numerous in the 

 nesting season. It is a quiet, inoffen- 

 sive hawk and is never known to raid 

 the poultry yard. When perched high 

 enough to show its form it is by far 

 the most graceful in the curves of its 

 outline of any of the buteos, and when 

 suspended in mid-air on its broad and 

 motionless wings the beauty of the 

 symmetrical outline of its body is dif- 

 ficult to describe. 



During a period of several years I 

 found and collected thirty sets of 

 eggs of this bird. The nests are easily 

 found and the collector need have no 

 fear of breaking his neck in getting 

 to them, for the average height of the 

 top of the nest is about seven and one- 

 half feet from the ground. In one in- 

 stance the extreme height was four- 

 teen feet and another nest was only 

 one and one half feet from the ground, 

 the top of the nest measuring just 

 three feet up. Mosts of the nests are 

 built in the tops of thick clumps of 

 thorny bushes commonly known as the 

 black bush. Two of these nests were 

 placed in the tops of thick clumps of 

 the catclaw, and it is almost as much 

 of a feat to secure the eggs from such 

 nests as it would be to vanquish the 

 angry feline with no weapon of de- 

 fense in hand. All of the higher nests 

 were placed in small trees, and the 

 mesquite, huisache and hackberry be- 

 ing used. 



Some of the nests are quite bulky, 

 as much so as large nests of the com- 

 mon Red-tail. They are firmly placed 

 in the fork of the tree or on the flat 

 clump of bushes. About the time 

 these birds begin to nest the wind be- 

 gins to blow constantly and with 

 great force from the Gulf and if the 

 nests are firmly anchored they are 

 apt to be tilted to one side. On one 

 of my collecting trips I discovered a 

 large nest in the distance and found 

 upon reaching it that the nest was 



