RED-TAILED BUZZARD. 427 
number, measure 1.38 by 1.138, being nearly spherical. Their ground- 
color is a buffy-cream, usually spotted with light or dark-brown. 
Genus BUTEO. Cuvier. 
Bill short, wide; edge of upper mandible lobed ; wings long, wide, 4th and Sth quills 
longest; three or more quills emarginate; tarsi robust, scutellate in front and behind, 
reticulate on sides; toes moderate; claws strong. 
BurEO AQuILINUS (Barton) Coues. 
Red-tailed Buzzard; Hlen Hawk. 
Falco borealis, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 161, 178.—Rap, Fam. Visitor, iii, 
1852, 228; Proc. Phila, Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, 1853, 395. 
Buteo borealis, KIRKPATRICK, Ohio Farmer, vii, 1853, 93; Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1858, 353.— 
Brewer, N. A. Oology, Smithsonian Contributions, xi, 1859,22—WueEaton, Ohio 
Agric. Rep. for 1860, 360; Reprint, 1861, 2; Food of Birds, ete , Ohio Agric. Rep, for 
1874, 570; Reprint, 1875, 10.—Lan@pon, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 13; Revised List, 
Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 180; Reprint, 14; Summer Birds, ib., iii, 1830, 
225. 
Red-tailed Hawk, KirrTLAND, Fam. Visitor, i, 1850, 1. 
Falco borealis, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 266. 
Buteo borealis, ViEILLOT, Nouv. Dict. a’Hist. Nat., iv, 1816, 478. 
Falco aquilinus, BARTON, ‘‘ Frag. Nat. Hist. Penna ,” 1799, 11. 
Buteo aquilinus, Cours, Birds Col. Val., 1, 1878, 593. 
Four outer quills emarginate on inner web. Adult dark-brown above, many feathers 
with pale or tawny margins, and upper tail coverts showing much whitish; below white 
or reddish-white, with various spots and streaks of differant shades of brown, generally 
forming an irregular zone on the abdomen; tail above bright chesinut-red, with subter- 
minal black zone and narrow whitish tip, below pearly-gray ; wing coverts dark ; young 
with the tail grayish-brown barred with darker, the upper parts with tawny streaking. 
A large stoutly built Hawk. Female, 23; wing, 154; tail, 84; male, 20; wing, 14; 
tail, 7. 
Habitat, the whole of North America. Mexico. Cuba. Jamaica. 
Common resident. Breeds. The Hen Hawk, as this and the follow- 
ing species are usually termed, is the most common of the large Hawks 
in this portion of the State. Thisisespecially the case in summer, when 
its numbers greatly exceed those of the next species. It is a frequent 
visitor in barn-yards, and though lacking much of the pluck and dash of 
the members of most of the preceeding genera, it has the equally success- 
ful quality of perseverence. During the summer they are generally seen 
in pairs, soaring high above the woods in which their nest is built, or the 
adjacent fields. Their food consists of rabbits, squirrels, partridges, mice 
and reptiles, They are less retiring than other members of this genus, 
and frequently breed in the immediate vicinity of cities. 
