EED-TAILED BUZZABD. 427 



number, measure 1.38 by 1.13, being nearly spherical. Their ground- 

 color is a buflfy-cream, usually spotted with light or dark-brown. 



Gbnus BUTEO. Cavier. 



Bill short, wide ; edge of upper mandible lobed ; wings long, wide, 4th and 5th qaills 

 longest ; three or more quills emargLuate ; tarsi robust, scuteUate in front and behind, 

 reticulate on sides ; toes moderate ; claws strong. 



BuTEO AQUiLiNUS (Bartou) Coues. 



I2.ecl-ta.iled Buzzard.; SCen Xla-w^k, 



Falco lorealis, Kirtland, Ohio Geolog. Snrr., 1838, 161, 178.— Bead, Pam. Visitor, iii, 

 1852, 228 ; Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, 1853, 395. 



Suteo lorealis, Kikkpatrick, Ohio Farmer, vii, 1858, 99 ; Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1858, 353. — 

 Brbwkb, N. a. Oology, Smithsonian Contributions, xi, 1859, 22 — Wheaton, Ohio 

 Agric. Rep. for 1860, 360 ; Reprint, 1861, 2 ; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep, for 

 1874, 570 ; Reprint, 1875, 10.— Langdon, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 13 ; Revised List, 

 Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 180 ; Reprint, 14 ; Summer Birds, ib., iii, 1880, 

 285. 



Red-tailed Hawk, Kirtland, Fam. Visitor, i, 1850, 1. 



Falco borealU, Gmblin, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 266. 

 Buteo horealii, VrBiLLOT, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., iv, 1816, 478. 

 Falco aquilinue, Barton, " Frag. Nat. Hist. Penna ," 1799, 11. 

 Buteo aquilinuB, CouES, Birds Col. Val., i, 1878, 593. 



Four outer quills emarginate on inner web. Adult dark-brown above, many featheis 

 with pale oi tawny margins, and upper tail coverts showing much whitish ; below white 

 or reddish-white, with various spots and streaks of different shades of brown, generally 

 forming an irregular zone on tlje abdomen ; tail above briglit oJiesinut-red, with snbter- 

 mlnal black zone and narrow whitish tip, below pearly-gray ; wing coverts dark ; young 

 with the tail grayish-brown barred with darker, the upper parts with tawny streaking. 

 A large stoutly built Hawk. Female, 23; wing, 15i; tail, 8J; male, 20; wing, 14; 

 tail, 7. 



Habitat, the whole of North America. Mexico. Cuba. Jamaica. 



Common resident. Breeds. The Hen Hawk, as this and the follow- 

 ing species are usually termed, is the most common of the large Hawks 

 in this portion of the State. This is especially the case in summer, when 

 its numbers greatly exceed those of the next species. It is a frequent 

 visitor in barn-yards, and though lacking much of the pluck and dash of 

 the members of most of the proceeding genera, it has the equally success- 

 ful quality of perseverence. During the summer they are generally seen 

 in pairs, soaring high above the woods in which their nest is built, or the 

 adjacent fields. Their food consists of rabbits, squirrels, partridges, mice 

 and reptiles, They are less retiring than other members of this genug, 

 and frequently breed in the immediate vicinity of cities. 



