HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES: WESTERN RED-TAIL 161 
vertical range of the species in the State and within these limits it occurs over 
most of the State during migration. 
It winters up to about 7,000 feet (Mitchell). In the Guadalupe Mountains 
at an altitude of 6,500 feet, it was seen January 13, 1915, [on the Carlsbad Reserve 
it was noted in December, 1916, and also on the Rio Grande Bird Reserve (Elephant 
Butte),-between November 23 and December 9, 1916 (Willett)].—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —Often a remodeled one of hawks, crows, or squirrels in such trees as 
cottonwood, box elder, oak, walnut, pine, and Douglas fir, bulky, made of sticks 
often lined with rough outer bark, and sometimes moss, grass, or leaves. Eggs: 
Usually 4 or 5, pale bluish or greenish white, unmarked or faintly and irregularly 
scrawled with brown or pale buffy. 
Food. —Almost entirely wild birds and poultry, including doves, game birds, 
and sparrows. 
General Habits. —In his Hawk and Owl Bulletin, Doctor Fisher 
says, the Cooper Hawk, which is a larger counterpart of the Sharp- 
shinned, is “preeminently a Chicken Hawk, and is by far the most 
destructive species we have to contend with.” It is “strong enough to 
carry away a good-sized chicken, grouse, or cottontail rabbit” (1907, 
p. 17). 
In the Mesilla country, Professor Merrill reported, they may be seen 
“on the mesa, perched on yuccas or hawking over. In the winter they 
come up on the college grounds chasing sparrows” (MS). 
The characteristic notes, Mr. Forbush gives as u cac cac cac or cuck 
cuck cuck often repeated.” 
Additional Literature.—Job, H. K., Wild Wings, 276-278, 1905. 
BUZZARD HAWKS and EAGLES: Subfamily Buteoninae 
WESTERN RED-TAIL: Buteo borealis calurus Cassin 
Plates 9 and 11 
Description. — Male: Length about 19-22.5 inches, wing 13.5-16.5, tail 
8.5-10, bill .9-1, tarsus 2.4-3.2. Female: Length 23-25 inches, wing 15.2-17.7. 
tail 9.5-10.5, bill 1-1.1, tarsus 3.1-3.4. Wings with four quills cut out on inner 
webs. Dark wrist-spot of the Buteos (Seton-Thompson, 1901, pp. 188-189) on 
underside of wing in all plumages . Adults: Varying from light to very dark or 
melanistic. Light extreme: Upperparts dark brown, marked with lighter brown 
and whitish, tail bright reddish brown with a black subterminal band and sometimes 
additional bars; underparts white or buffy, streaked. Dark extreme: Uniform sooty 
brown except for rufous tail. Intermediates: Reddish brown on underparts with 
wash on upperparts; all grades between these three plumages are also found. Iris 
brown, bill horn color, cere, legs and feet, yellow. Young: Dark brown, heavily 
spotted on lower underparts, sometimes wholly dusky; tall grayish to yellowish 
brown, crossed by 9 to 10 blackish bands, iris yellow. (For comparisons, see Swain- 
son Hawk, p. 167.) 
Range. —Western North America from middle Yukon and central-western 
Mackenzie to western part of Great Plains and south to Cape San Lucas and 
Guatemala; in winter migrates from the northern half of its range. Has wandered 
to Arkansas, etc. 
