174 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
tail like adult but with narrower white tip and inner webs of feathers barred; under¬ 
parts yellowish brown, vertically striped or spotted with dusky. 
Range. —Lower Sonoran Zone in southeastern California, southern Arizona, 
southeastern New Mexico, southern Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi south to 
Cape San Lucas and Panama. 
State Records. —A nest of the Harris Hawk was found June 2, 1919, 2 miles 
northeast of Carlsbad at about 3,000 feet altitude, the eggs being probably three- 
fourths incubated. On January 5, 1919, at Monument Draw, a few miles north¬ 
east of Jal, and on January 7, on the San Simon Ranch about 20 miles northwest 
of Jal, great numbers were seen, especially on the San Simon, where 15 spent the 
night of January 7. On May 31, 1919, one was seen on the Staked Plains about 
50 miles northeast of Carlsbad (Ligon). 
Nest. —A compactly made platform of sticks, twigs, weeds, and roots lined 
with green mesquite, elm shoots, and leaves, grass, bark, Spanish moss, and roots, 
placed in cactus, Spanish bayonet, chaparral, mesquite, hackberry, and other 
trees (one, reported by Ligon, lined with the hair nest of an Oriole). Eggs: 2 to 
4, soiled white, occasionally greenish, unmarked or spotted lightly with pale brown 
or lavender. 
Food. —Largely offal, reptiles (lizards and small snakes), small mammals, such 
as cottontail rabbits, cotton rats, and field mice, and occasionally birds. 
General Habits. —The rich rufous marks and characteristic tail 
of the Harris Hawk distinguish him readily. At the nest, both parents, 
Mr. Sennett found, assist in incubation and care of the young, “ being 
sometimes fearless in protecting them” (1879, pp. 419-420). He is 
common and tame on the coast prairies of Texas where he may be seen 
perching on telegraph poles, although he is considered “very terrestrial” 
in habit (Friedman, 1925, p. 545). In the mesquite thickets, as Mr. 
Bailey found, “you may meet one at close quarters as he dashes under 
the thorny bushes in quest of wood rats, ground squirrels, and the small 
game that abounds in these dwarf forests” (1902, p. 154). 
When not hunting or caring for the young, as Mr. G. F. Simmons 
says, he is a sluggish, heavy, slow-flying bird . . . associating with 
the Black and Turkey Vultures and the Audubon Caracara.” His call 
is a long harsh scream (1925, p. 100). 
At a tank on the San Simon Ranch in the southeastern part of New 
Mexico, Mr. Ligon wrote, in January, 1919, fifteen Harris Hawks spent 
the night in the large willows—the only trees in the locality. At this 
season the birds seemed rather inactive, several together sitting on the 
ground near the thickets of chaparral or sometimes on top of the brush, 
whether seeking protection from the strong cold winds or looking for 
lats and rabbits, was not determined. At Monument Draw, however, 
the jack rabbits were constantly moving about among the hawks and 
seemed to'pay no attention to them (MS). 
In the fall migration, on October 27, 1920, a flock of four or five 
hundred of the handsome Harris Hawks was seen by Mr. Frank Rich¬ 
mond of El Centro, California, scattered over an area of about eighty 
