B UTE O PENNS YL VAN1C US. 
315 
The Canadian specimen and the one taken at Salem were in the melanistic condition as 
given in the dark stage of the description, and the one obtained at Wayland, was in a tran¬ 
sitional or intermediate stage. According to descriptions, Swainson’s Hawk does not dif¬ 
fer strikingly in habit from other allied species, excepting that they occasionally build their 
nests in shrubbery. 
BUTEO PENNSYLVANICUS. 
Broad-winged Hawk. 
Buteo Pennsylvanicus Bon. Syn.; 1828, 29. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sf. Ch. Form, rather slender. Size, small. Tarsus, feathered in front for much less than half its length. Sternum, 
stout, not very narrow, with themarginal indentations quite large. Tongue, rather thick and fleshy, not very horny at tip 
where it is rounded hut not bifid. Only three outer quills are incised on the inner webs. Coeca, present but short and 
thick. Sexes, similar in color. 
Color. Adult. Above, dark-brown everywhere, lighter on the head and darker no the wings and tail, with the feath¬ 
ers edged with rufous. Wings, white on the edges of inner webs and very obscurely barred with black. Tail, white at 
base and tip and crossed with four bars of ashy-brown, which become lighter on the inner webs. Sides of head, rufous, 
streaked with black. Beneath, everywhere pale yellowish-rufous, streaked on the throat with dark-brown and heavily 
marked on the breast with broad streakings of reddish-brown, while the remaining under portions are spotted with arrow- 
shaped marks of the same color. Concealed spot on occiput, white. 
Young. Similar to the adult above, but lighter on the head, and the tail is crossed with numerous obscure bands of 
dark-brown. Beneath, also similar but the spots are rounder, not as large, nor as numerous, only occuring on the breast, 
flanks, and tibia. 
Young of the year. Not unlike the young but more rufous below where the spots are rounder and darker, being, in 
fact, nearly drop-shaped. 
Nestlings. Are, at first, covered with a yellowish down , then gradually assume the plumage last described which is 
retained for a year. Iris and bill, brown, cere, greenish, and feet yellow, in all stages. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
There is a little variation in plumage, some specimens being darker than the type, but this species may be at once rec¬ 
ognized by the small size, incision of only three quills, nearly naked tarsus, and colors as described. Distributed, during 
summer, throughout Eastern United States, wintering in the more southern portions. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of female specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 16*50; stretch, 34*75; wing, 10-25; 
tail, 6-55; bill, "68; tarsus, 2-25. Longest specimen, 18*00; greatest extent of wing, 36*00; longest wing, 1155; tail, 7'12; 
bill, '74; tarsus, 2*45. Shortest specimen, 15*00; smallest extent of wing, 33*45; shortest wing, 1014; tail, 6'15; bill, '62; 
tarsus, 2'15. 
Average measurements of male specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 15*35; stretch, 34*75; wing, 10*15; 
tail, 6*25; bill, *63; tarsus, 2*15. Longest specimen, 16*50; greatest extent of wing, 35*00; longest wing, 10 55; fail, 6*50; 
bill, *65; tarsus, 2*40. Shortest specimen, 14*20; smallest extent of wing, 32*45; shortest wing, 9*75; tail, 6*00; bill, *58; 
tarsus, 2*05. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed in trees. They are bulky structures, composed of sticks and twigs, lined with leaves, weeds, and strips 
of bark. 
Eggs, three or four in number, varying from elliptical to spherical inform, dirty-white in color, spotted and blotched 
with brown and umber of varying shades. Dimensions, from 1*68x2*15 to 1*70 x 2*20. 
HABITS. 
The first time that I ever saw a living Broad-winged Hawk to recognize it, was many 
years ago. I was driving along a street in Newton, when I saw a small Hawk perched on 
