102 
BIRDS OF PREY, 
ginous white , marked rather thinly with oblong or ob lanceolate 
brown spots ; belly nearly spotless, the vent wholly so ; femorals 
ferruginous- white with hastate transverse, and some terminal point- 
ed bars. Legs short, strong, and yellow. Irids dark brown. — - 
Note. In my larger specimen (or the female ), the lower part of the 
breast, approaching the belly, is marked with a few large roundish dark 
spots ; the whole under side is nearly white, with the spots fewer 
and larger ; the chin is also thickly spotted, which is not so in the 
male ; the femorals are likewise covered with long thin feathers 
almost entirely spotless ; the bars on the quills are less prominent, 
and the tail distinctly barred on both sides ; no bars appearing on 
the upper side of the tail in the male. The 4 first primaries notched 
on their inner vanes, and the 4 th primary longest t 
RED-TAILED HAWK or BUZZARD. 
(Falco borealis^ Gmel. Audubon, pi. 51. Wilson, Am. Orn. vi. p. 75. 
pi. 52. fig. 1. [adult] and American Buzzard, F. leverianus y 
Ibid. vi. p. 78. pi. 52. fig. 2. [young].) 
Spec. Charact. — Dusky brown; beneath whitish with dark has- 
tate spots ; wings considerably shorter than the tail. — Female 
very similar to the male. In the adult the tail is ferruginous, 
with a blackish subterminal band. — Young , with the tail pale 
dusky brown, crossed by 9 or 10 narrow blackish bands. 
This beautiful Buzzard inhabits most parts of the 
United States, being observed from Canada to Florida ; 
also, far westward up the Missouri, and even on the 
coasts of the northern Pacific Ocean, by Lewis and 
Clarke.* Wilson found the young to be fully grown 
in the month of May, about latitude 31 degrees on the 
banks of the Mississippi ; at this period they were very 
noisy and clamorous, keeping up an incessant squealing. 
They also occasionally nest and breed in large trees in 
the secluded forests of this part of Massachusetts. The 
young birds soon become very submissive, and allow 
* Vol. ii. page 88. 
