BIRDS OF DURHAM AND VICINITY. 
45 
Buteo lineatus. Red-shouldered Hawk. 339. 
This is the common "hen hawk'' seen about the woods from the 
last of March till November. It breeds anywhere in the larger woods, 
both in evergreen and deciduous trees. Its food habits are practically 
like those of the Red-tail, which it resembles in many respects. It 
may be distinguished from the Red-tail as it soars overhead by its 
tail, which shows the alternate light and dark bands on the under 
side, the Red- tail's tail being silvery white beneath, giving no sugges- 
tion of the color of the upper surface. The habit of soaring, in which 
Buteos indulge, is a pastime, and not for the purpose of procuring food. 
Their plan of hunting is to perch in a tree that commands a wide view 
of a pasture or meadow, where they wait, ready to pounce upon the 
first mouse or shrew or other small creature, that shows its unlucky 
head. Insects are eaten by this hawk to a considerable extent. The 
stomach of one killed by me the last of May contained bones of a 
mouse, a cutw^orm, a hairy caterpillar, a beetle, and a small fly. I have 
seen one of these hawks alight in the mill-pond, near shore, where 
the water was only a few inches deep to catch some aquatic creature 
which it found there. 
Buteo platypterus. Broad-winged Hawk. 343. 
Broad-winged Hawks are not common, but they are not unlikely to 
appear at any time except winter, though for the most part they are 
migrants, May, August and September being their months of passage. 
The only specimen that I have seen in this locality I found in Septem- 
ber, in Madbury. It was an immature male that had been shot and 
left hanging by the roadside. This species is even less harmful to 
poultry than either of the other Buteos, being more inclined to keep in 
the woods. 
Archibuteo lag-opus sancti-johannis. American Rough- 
legged Hawk. 347a. 
Mr. Shaw reports this hawk to be a regular early spring and late 
fall migrant at Hampton. It is a harmless devourer of mice, moles, 
frogs, and similar vermin, rarely seen away from tide water. Although 
its plumage has a number of color phases, it may always be recognized 
by its legs, which are feathered to the toes. 
