BIRDS OF PREY 



(335) Parabuteo unicinctus 



harrisi (AuJ.) (Gr., near, Lat., buz- 

 zard-hawk; Lat., once girdled). 



HARRIS'S HAWK. Loral re- 

 gion quite bare and set with short 

 stiff hairs. Five outer primaries 

 emarginate or notched. Plumage 

 as shown, chiefly blackish - brown ; 

 shoulders, linings of wings and tibia 

 bright chestnut; upper and iinder 

 tail coverts and base of tail broadly 

 white and end of tail narrowly tipped 

 with the same. Immature birds are 

 lighter, the under parts spotted or 

 streaked with tawny and the tibia 

 are buffy, barred with dusky. L., 

 21.00; Ex., 45.00; W., 13.30; T., 

 9.50; Tar., 3.00. Nest — Of sticks 

 and weeds in trees or bushes; three 

 or four white eggs. 



Range — Southern La., 

 Mex., Ariz, and Cal. 



Tex., N. 



a condition they are in a great deal of the time, they are 

 fearless beyond comparison. A farmer feeding his fowls 

 may hear a swish of wings, and see one of his favorite hens 

 borne off before his eyes; so sudden and unexpected is the 

 rush that he is wholly powerless to prevent it. Unfortu- 

 nately our farmers are not usually well versed in ornithology. 

 They know no distinction between hawks save Hen Hawks 

 (large) and Chicken Hawks (small). As a matter of fact, 

 this species and the two preceding ones are the only ones 

 that really do harm poultry or our bird life. 



Ptarmigan, grouse, poultry, ducks, rabbits, and lemmings 

 are the principle staples in the order of the Goshawk pref- 

 erence. Sir Goshawk may play a waiting gaine and sit 

 patiently on his perch until some delectable morsel passes 

 within range of his sudden dash; but when hunger spurs him. 

 he slowly and silently wings his way through the woods, 

 along creeks or across fields. The creature that betrays its 

 presence is doomed, for his sharp talons will strike it "down 



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