162 



North American Birds Eggs. 



341. Sennett White-tailed Hawk. 



t 



[null white.] 



Riitco albicaudatus sennetti. 



Range. — Mexican border of the 

 United States and southward. 



A large, handsome Hawk which 

 may be identified by its dark up- 

 ,^ perparts and wfiite underparts and 



■■_^ tail, the fianks and tail being 



lightly barred with grayish; the 

 shoulders are chestnut. It is es- 

 '. '•••' pecially abundant in the southern 

 ^, parts of Texas, where it builds its 



large bulky nests of sticks and 

 weeds, lined with grasses, leaves 

 and moss. They nest in March and 

 April laying two, or rarely three, 

 eggs which are a dull white, and 

 generally immaculate, but occasion- 

 ally faintly or sparingly spotted with 

 brown. Size of eggs, 2.25 x 1.80. 



■/ 



342. Swainson Hawk. Biitrii fnvai iisoni. 



■" Range. — Central and western North America, from the Mississippi Valley and 

 Hudson Bay, to the Pacific coast, breeding throughout its range. 



In the greater part of its range, this 

 is the most abundant of the Hawk , - _ -^ 



family. Its plumage is extremely 

 variable, showing all the intergrada- 

 tions from a uniform sooty blackish 

 to the typical adult plumage of a gray- 

 ish above, and white below, with a large 

 breast patch of rich chestnut. Their 

 nesting habits are as variable as their 

 plumage. In some localities, they 

 nest exclusivelj' in trees, in others, 

 indifferently upon the ground or rocky 

 ledges. The nest is the usual Hawk 

 structure of sticks: the eggs are white, 

 variously splashed and spotted with 

 reddish brown and umber. Size 2.20 

 X 1.70, Data.— Stark Co., N. D., May 

 21, 1897. Nest of sticks, lined with weeds 

 in an ash tree. Collector, Roy Dodd. 



343. Broad-winged Hawk. Biiteo platyptenis. 

 Range.— North America, east of the Plains 



southward. 



[White.] 



and from the British Provinces 



[Grayish white.] 



A medium sized species, about 16 inches 

 in length, and with a short tail and liroad 

 rounded wings; adults have the underparts 

 handsomely barred with brown. Their 

 nests are usually built in large trees, but 

 generally placed against the trunk in the 

 crotch of some of the lower branches. It is 

 made of sticks and almost invariablj' lined 

 with bark. The two to four eggs are of a 

 grayish white color, marked with chestnut 

 brown and stone gray; Size 1.90 x 1.55. 

 Data. — Worcester, ]\iass.. May 16, 1895. 

 Nest about 20 feet up in a large chestnut tree. 

 The birds continually circled overhead, 

 their weird cries sounding like the creak- 

 ing of branches. Collector, A. J. White. 



