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 visually- 

 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 -th6 

 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 i« '' 



Plate 47 ■* '•■ 



Palco lineatus Gmelin. Syst. Nat. 1788. 1:268 '^ , 

 Buteo hyemalis DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, js.'io, fig. 13 

 Buteo lineatus lineatus A. 0. II. Check List. Ed. 3. I'gio. p. 158. No. 339 



linedtus, 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 fusQOUS, and the under parts barred with 

 whitish or ocherous buff; wing's and tail blackish barred with white; the white 

 tail bars about 4 or 5, of uniform y/idth and narrower than those of the 

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

 as the bird flies overhead. Uppef 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 plumage; bases of primaries and of outer tail feather mostly 

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

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



Length cf 17.5-19 inches, 9 19.5-21; 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 westetn New York. It is common during the spring and fall migrations, 

 6 



