BIRDS OF NEW YORK 83 



and other evergreens. The eggs are laid from April i to 25. They are 

 from 2 to 4 in number, dull whitish, often tinged with bluish, and usually 

 spotted or blotched with reddish or yellowish brown and obscurely marked 

 with lavender, about 2.40 by 1.90 inches in dimensions. The call of the 

 Red-tail, when soaring, is " a long drawn squealing whistle " somewhat 

 resembling the syllables kee-aahrr-r-r , and in the nesting woods it utters 

 a sharp scream like kerr or chirr. 



Buteo lineatus lineatus (Gmelin) 

 Red- shouldered Hawk 



Plate 47 



Palco lineatus Gmelin. Syst. Nat. 1788. 1:268 

 Buteo hyemalis DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 10, fig. 13 

 Buteo lineatus lineatus A. 0. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 138. No. 339 

 lineatus, Lat., marked with stripes or bars 



Description. Like the Red-tail or common " Hen hawk " of the 

 New York farmer, but slightly smaller and lighter in build. Four outer 

 primaries notched. Adult: Lesser wing coverts and under parts rufous, 

 the wing coverts marked with fuscous, and the under parts barred with 

 whitish or ocherous bu£E; wings and tail blackish barred with white; the white 

 tail bars about 4 or 5, of uniform width and narrower than those of the 

 Broad-wing, forming with the rufous under parts good identification marks 

 as the bird flies overhead. Upper parts altogether of a more grayish 

 appearance than those of the Red-tail, being dark grayish brown, more 

 or less striped or edged with whitish and ocherous; throat with black 

 shaft streaks; cere and legs yellow; iris brown. Immature: Upper parts 

 similar to adult but more dusky; lesser wing coverts distinctly rusty but less 

 so than in adult pliunage; bases of primaries and of outer tail feather mostly 

 ocherous buff or yellowish red; tail grayish brown barred with blackish; 

 under parts white or buffy white streaked and spotted with blackish; iris yellow. 



Length cT 1 7.5-19 inches, 9 1 9. 5-2 1 ; extent cf 40-44, 9 44-50; wing 

 12-14; tail 7.5-9-5; tarsus 2.8-3; middle toe 1.60; weight 2-3 pounds. 



Distribution. The Red-shouldered hawk inhabits eastern North 

 America from Manitoba and Nova Scotia southward to Oklahoma and 

 North Carolina, moving slightly southward in winter as far as the Gulf 

 coast. In New York it is a permanent resident in the warmer portions 

 of the State and may be found sparingly in winter throughout central 

 and western New York. It is common during the spring and fall migrations. 



