32 
* 
THE RED-TAILED BUZZARD. 
Bill light-blue at the base, with the margins yellowish, the tip black ; 
the cere yellow. Iris hazel. Feet yellow ; claws black, at the base bluish . 
The general colour of the upper parts is chocolate-brown. The quills are 
of the general colour externally, but the primaries are black toward the 
tip ; a great part of the inner web, with the shaft, white, and barred with 
brownish-black, the bars more extended on the secondaries. The tail is 
marked with about ten dusky bars on a reddish-brown ground, tinged with 
grey, the last dark bar broader, the tips paler. The eyelids are whitish, 
as is the throat, which is longitudinally streaked with dusky. The rest of 
the lower parts are yellowish or brownish-white, barred with brown. The 
lower wing-coverts are white, barred or spotted with dusky ; the white of 
the inner webs of the primaries forms a conspicuous patch, contrasted with 
the greyish-black of their terminal portion. 
Length to end of tail 23 inches ; wing from flexure 17 ; tail 10 £ ; bill along 
the ridge 1-A, along the edge of lower mandible 1 T 7 ^ ; tarsus 3 A ; hind toe 1, 
its claw 1A ; middle toe l-{£, it's claws 1 t l. 
Another specimen in my possession, procured by Mr. Townsend on the 
plains of Snake river, has the upper parts bi-own, streaked and spotted with 
reddish-white ; the upper tail-covei’ts white, barred with dusky, the lower 
parts as above described. The coloui-s however vary, and in some the upper 
parts are deep bi-own, the lower reddish or brownish-white, barred with 
reddish-bi'own. 
When compared with European specimens, mine have the bill somewhat 
stronger ; but in all other respects, including the scutella and scales of the 
feet and toes, and the structure of the wings and tail, the parts are similar. 
THE RED-TAILED BUZZARD 
Bttteo borealis, Gmel. 
PLATE YU. — Male axd Female. 
The Red-tailed Hawk (Buzzard) is a constant resident in the United States, 
in every part of which it is found. It performs partial migrations, during 
severe winters, from the Northern Districts towards the Southern. In the 
latter, however, it is at all times more abundant, and I shall endeavour to 
present you with a full account of its habits, as observed there. 
