354 BUTEO LINEATUS, KED-SHOULDEEED BUZZARD. 



several stages being inseparably connected. The slighter departures from the normal 

 Eastern s*;.udard are the montanus of Cassin, and most later writers, bat probably not 

 of Nuttall ; lUo climax is reached in calurus, Cassiu. I adopt this name for the extreme 

 Western variety, ignoring the intermediate stages, which have been usually designated 

 montanus. In all of these birds, when adult, the tail becomes chestnut-red on top, which 

 is never the casi; with swainsoni. 



The Fako buteo or Buteo vulgaris of Audubon is uncertain — rather, let us say, it com- 

 prehends both the Western Red-tail and Swainsou's Buzzard, being ostensibly based 

 upon tlie latter, but the description and figure rather indicating the former. The Bu- 

 Uo r.mntarnts of Nnttull (1840; not in edition of 1832) is baaed on Audubon's "Fako 

 buteo," but the description is unmistakably that of sicainsoni. I follow Mr. Ridgway 

 in releiTHt iug both these names to swainsoni, leaving calurus as the first distinctive name 

 of the AVestern Red-tail in all its variety. 



Swainsoni is the smaller species, perfectly distinct. The female is only about 21 inches 

 long ; the form is less robust ; the wings are comparatively longer ;_ the legs slenderer. 

 This species was first noticed by Richardson and Swainson, who described and figured 

 it accurately, calling it " Baleo vulgaris," under the impression that- it was identical 

 with the European bird. It was subsequently separated by Bonaparte, in 1838, under 

 the name of B. suains&ni, which it should bear. Its other synonyms are noticed be- 

 yond ; here, however, it may be remarked, that B. swainsoni of Cassin, 111. 18.34, 98, is 

 not this species, but the Western Red-tail, as shown conclusively by his description, 

 altbuugh he cites the synonymy of sioainsoni. His swainsoni of 18.58, however, is cor- 

 rectly so named. 



The Hen-Hawk is abundant in all parts of the West, as elsewhere in 

 isorth America, and in all its variety has the same habits it shows in 

 the East. I have obtained several specimens, of old and young, at Port 

 Eandall, and very frequently observed the bird while I was traveling in 

 Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota. The fuliginous styles (extreme of calurus) 

 I have never seen in the northwest, although in Arizona they were 

 nearly as common as the others, both occurring in the same localities. 

 These large Hawks are all heavy and rather in;ictive birds, ranking, in 

 these respects, next to the species of Archibul^eo. They are uufitted, 

 both by their physical organization and temperament, for the daring 

 feats that the Falcons and Hawks execute, and usually prey upon game 

 disproportionate to their size, which they snatch as they pass along. I 

 have, however, found nearly the whole of a rabbit in the craw. They 

 mate early, constructing a large and bulky, though shalloWj nest in a 

 high tree, of sticks and smaller twigs, mixed toward the centre with 

 grass, moss, or other. soft material, and often a few feathers. The eggs 

 are generally three in number, about 2.40 long by rather less than 2.00 

 broad. They are dull whitish in color, sometimes with only a few mark- 

 ings of dull brownish-gray, but oftener extensively blotched with several 

 shades of rich brown. The young are a long time in acquiring the full 

 jjlumage. They are long full grown before the red of the tail appears, 

 and this is usually in advance of the fulvous of the under parts that the 

 old birds display. I have seen specimens with nearly perfect red tail, 

 yet showing pure white on the breast and the same elsewhere under- 

 neath, though marked with the usual dark-brown spots and streaks. 

 There is a gTcat sexual difference in size, many males being found hardly 

 or not 20 inches long. 



BUTEO LINEATUS, (Gm.) Jard. - ' 

 Red-shouldered Buzzard. 



a. lineatus. 



Falco lineatus, Gyt., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 268.— Lath., Ind. Orn. i, 1790, 27.— Datjd., Tr. 

 Orn. ii, ISOO, 158.— Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii, lb09, 113.— Cuv., R. A. i,2d ed. 334.— 

 WiLS., Am. Orn. vi, 1812, 86, pi. 53, f. 3.— Aud., Oru. Biog. i, 1832, 296, v, 1839, 

 .?S0 ; pi. 56. = I ) , . 



