BIRDS OF PREY 



(346) Asturina plagiata Schlegel 



{Lat., striped). 

 MEXICAN GOSHAWK. A Mexi- 

 can species reaching southern Ariz, 

 and the Lower Rio Grande Valley 

 in Tex. Adults are bluish-slate above 

 and finely vermiculated with gray 

 below. L., 17.00. 

 (347a) Archibuteo lagopus 

 sancti=johannis 



{GiiieD (Lat., chief buzzard; Gr., hare- 

 footed). 



ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. 

 Tarsi feathered to the toes. Ads. — 

 Plumage varies greatly from a uni- 

 form blackish-brown to the one 

 shown here, in which the head, 

 breast and tail are largely white. 



Range — Breeds in northern Can- 

 ada and Alaska. Winters from north- 

 ern U. S. south to N. Car., Tex. and 

 central Cal. 



found within a large area. Their nests are not placed very 

 high, usually from twenty to forty feet from the ground, and 

 are made of sticks and twigs; they are quite unusual in that 

 practically all of them are scantily lined with bits of bark, 

 usually that of pines. The eggs are quite handsomely 

 clouded with blue-gray and more or less obscurely blotched 

 with brown. When their nesting is disturbed, both birds 

 will usually perch at some distance, probably out of vision, 

 and utter shrill, wailing whistles; this sound always reminds 

 me of the high-pitched squeaking of two limbs rubbing to- 

 gether as trees are rocked by the winds. 



It is a well-known fact among ornithologists that prac- 

 tically all of our hawks can be identified when in flight, e\-en 

 at great distances, either by the size and shape of the wings 

 and tails, or by the ''wrist marks," the dark patches of 

 feathers that usually show on the under side at the bend of 

 the wing. The present species is very easily recognized by 

 its comparatively small size and the broad rounded wings 

 and short tail. 



