226 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



in a pine tree about 40 feet above the ground and similarly constructed. 

 Among the materials used for lining, this nest contained, in addition to /those 

 already mentioned, some dry grass and a piece of snake skin; it contained 

 but two eggs, one of these half incubated, the other unfertilized. Several 

 other nests were found, showing little if any difference from those already 

 described, so far as location and the materials used in their construction are 

 concerned. All these nests contained but two eggs, and this seems to be the 

 usual number laid by this race, in that part of Florida, at least." 



Mr. W. E. D. Scott says that the Florida Red-shouldered Hawk is common 

 in the vicinity of Tarpon Springs, Hillsborough County, Florida, where he 

 found them mating and nesting generally in March, frequenting flat woods and 

 ponds. The eggs are indistinguishable from those of Bateo lineatus, but, as 

 before mentioned, they average considerably smaller. Their ground color is 

 usually grayish white, and the markings appear to vary fully as much as in that 

 subspecies, but are similar. 



The average size of sixteen eggs from Florida, all collected by Dr. Ralph, 

 is 50.6 by 42.5 millimetres. The largest of these eggs measures 53.3 by 42.5, 

 the smallest 49.8 by 40.1 millimetres. None are figured, as they are similar 

 to those of Buteo lineatus in every respect except size. 



78. Buteo lineatus elegans (Cassin). 



RED-BELLIED HAWK. 



Buteo elegans Cassin, Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Phila., 1855, 281. 

 Buteo lineatus var. elegans Ridgway, in History of North American Birds, ill, Jan- 

 uary, 1874, 257, 377. 



(B 26, C 352a, R 439a, C 521, U 339&.) 



Geographical range: Pacific coast of United States; north to southern Oregon; 

 south to Lower California; (and Mexico ?) 



The breeding range of the handsome Red-bellied Hawk, as far as yet 

 known, is exclusively confined to the Pacific coast proper, extending into 

 northern Lower California, from about latitude 29° north, through California, 

 to central Oregon, where it is a rare summer resident. While not common in 

 any locality, it is perhaps more abundant in the middle counties of California 

 than anywhere else. 



Mr. L. Belding, in his "Paper on the Birds of the Pacific District," makes 

 the following remarks about this bird: "Upper Sacramento Valley. Appar- 

 ently rare; probably resident, though not seen by me later than October 20. 

 It is very common about Stockton in summer; nearly as common in the 

 breeding season as the Red-tailed Hawk. I knew of a pair nesting within less 

 than 200 hundred yards of a residence where poultry was plentiful and easily 

 obtained. They nested there three consecutive seasons unmolested by the 

 occupants of the dwelling. I shot the female as she flew from the nest, April 



