THE BIRD BOOK 
Red-tailed Hawk 
337. Red-tailed Hawk. 
Buteo borealis borealis. 
This is one of the handsomest of the larger 
hawks, and is the best known in the east, 
Pale bluish white 
where it is commonly, but wrongly, designated as “hen hawk”, a name, how- 
ever, which is indiscriminately applied to any bird that has talons and a hooked 
beak. The adult of this species is unmistakable because of its reddish brown 
tail; young birds are very frequently confounded with other species. Their 
food consists chiefly of small rodents, snakes and lizards, and only occasionally 
are poultry or birds taken. They nest in the tallest trees in large patches of 
woods, the nests being made of sticks, weeds, leaves and trash. The eggs 
number from two to four, and are white, sometimes heavily, and sometimes 
sparingly, blotched and spotted with various shades of brown. Size 2.35 x 1.80. 
337a. Krider’s Hawk. Buteo borealis krideri. 
Range.- — Plains of the United States, north to Manitoba. 
This sub-species is described as lighter on the underparts, which are almost 
immaculate. Its nesting habits and eggs are the same as those of the pre- 
ceding. 
337b. Western Red-tail. Buteo borealis calurus. 
Range. — Western North America, 
chiefly west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 
This sub-species varies from the 
plumage of the eastern Red-tail, to 
a nearly uniform sooty above and 
below, with the dark red tail cross- 
ed by several bands; it is a gener- 
ally darker variety than the Red- 
tail. Its nesting habits are the 
same and the eggs show the great 
variations in markings that are 
common to the eastern bird. 
White 
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