NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 213 



and small birds. Not always are the highest trees selected as nesting sites; in some 

 sections the crotches and branches of trees, ten to forty feet from the ground, are 

 usually chosen, while in other regions ihe tallest oak and hickory trees, sixty to 

 eighty feet from the ground, are preferred. Abandon-ed crows' nests are likewise 

 made use of by this species.* The nests are coarsely constructed of sticks, lined 

 with fibrous roots, bark strips, moss or feathers. The eggs of the Broad-winged 

 Hawk are usually deposited in May. In the forests of the Red River of the North 

 in Minnesota, Mr. J. W. Preston found the eggs in the latter half of May; they have 

 been taken near St. John, New Brunswick, as late as June 23; in Monroe county, 

 Pennsylvania, June 6; and Northampton county, Pennsylvania, May 17 and 18; 

 near Framingham, Massachusetts, May 25; in Lafayette county, Mississippi, April 

 9, May 17 and 18. Mr. O. C. Poling took sets of this Hawk's eggs near Quincy, 111., 

 in May. A set of two eggs were brought to me which were taken in Knox county, 

 Ohio, May 26, 1886. The eggs are of a grayish, lavender-gray or yellowish-white 

 ground color, variously marked with spots and blotches of fawn color and umber- 

 brown and chestnut. Two or three are the usual number laid, and four are ex- 

 ceptional. The average size is 1.90xl.54t 



344. SHORT-TAILED HAWK. Buteo hrachyurus Vieill. Geog. Dist.— Mexi- 

 co, Central America and most of South America, north to Eastern Mexico and 

 Plorida. 



This tropical species comes as far north as Florida, where it is said to breed 

 regularly, where it places its nest in the tall trees of the cypress swamps. An egg 

 is described by the late Major Bendire as dull white, showing blue when held against 

 a strong light. It is. marked on the larger end with reddish-brown spots and 

 blotches over about one-fourth of the surface. Size, 2.17x1.61 inches. 



345. MEXICAN BLACK HAWK. VruMUirrja atithracina (Llcht.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Arizona, southward to northern portions of South America. 



A beautiful Hawk, known as the Mexican or Anthracite Buzzard, and found 

 throughout tropical America, and north to Southern Arizona.. The general color 



* Many nests of the Raptores described by writers as resembling those of the Crow 

 may safely be attributed to the latter as their architects, and wherever Crows breed 

 abundantly it is almost an assurance that some species of Hawlt or Owl may be found nest- 

 ing in the immediate vicinity. 



t This is the average size given by Mr. Norris, taken from a series of seventeen sets 

 in his cabinet, nine of which came from Minnesota, three from Mississippi, one from 

 Massachusetts, and four from Pennsylvania; forty-two eggs in all. Mr. Norris states that 

 there are two types of coloration In the series; twenty-four of the eggs have markings of 

 very subdued tints of pearl-gray, lavender-gray, lilac-gray and ecru-drab, on a faint yel- 

 lowish or bluish-white ground; the tints in many instances have the appearance of being 

 under the shell, and are present in specks, spots and blotches. The remaining eighteen 

 eggs are. marked with spots and blotches of fawn color, russet, walnut-brown, burnt umber 

 and chestnut. Some of the sizes from this series are as follows: 1.74x1.52, 1.76x1.50, 1.85x1.46, 

 1.87x1.53, 1.90x1.54, 1.99x1.53, 2.01x1.62, 2.06x1.52. See Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. XII, pp. 

 9-11 and Vol. XIIT. p. 21. 



