What Bird is That? Part 5

GOSHAWK

_Astur atricapillus_

The adult is blue-gray above with a darker crown and a white line over the eye. The underparts are finely and beautifully marked with gray and white.

Young birds resemble the young of Cooper's Hawk, but are much larger. L., male, 22; female, 24.

_Range._ North America, nests chiefly north of the United States and winters southward, usually rarely, as far as Virginia.

Was.h.i.+ngton, casual in winter. Ossining, rare W.V., Oct. 10-Jan. 14. Cambridge, irregular and uncommon W.V. SE. Minn., W.R., Nov. 5-Apl. 4.

Like its smaller relatives the Sharp-s.h.i.+n and Cooper's Hawks, this powerful raptor is a relentless hunter of birds. It is particularly destructive to Ruffed Grouse. Fortunately it does not often visit us in numbers. It nests in trees, laying 2-5 white eggs, rarely marked with brownish, in April.

RED-TAILED HAWK

_Buteo borealis borealis. Case 1, Figs. 5, 6; Case 3, Fig. 13._

This, the largest of our common Hawks, is a heavy-bodied bird with wings which when closed, reach nearly to the end of the tail. The adult has the tail bright reddish brown with a narrow black band near the tip. The immature bird has the tail rather inconspicuously barred with blackish, and a broken band of blackish spots across the underparts. L. male, 20; female, 23.

_Range._ Eastern North America, migrating only at the northern limit of its range. There are several races, Krider's Red-tail, a paler form inhabiting the great Plains, and Harlan's Hawk, a darker form with a mottled tail, the lower Mississippi Valley.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common W.V., rare S.R. Ossining, common P.R., less common in winter. Cambridge, rare T.V., locally W.V., Oct. 10-Apl. 20. N. Ohio, common P.R. Glen Ellyn, P.R., not common, chiefly T.V. SE. Minn., common S.R., Mch. 2.

The Red-tail resembles the Red-shoulder in general habits, but it is more a bird of the fields, where it may be seen perched on the limb of a dead tree or similar exposed situation. Its note, a long-drawn, squealing whistle, is quite unlike that of the Red-shoulder. The Red-tail feeds chiefly on mice and other small mammals. With the Red-shoulder it is often called 'Chicken Hawk,' but does not deserve the name. It nests in trees 30-70 feet up and in April lays 2-4 eggs, dull white sparingly marked with brown.

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK

_Buteo lineatus lineatus. Case 1, Fig. 4; Case 3 Fig. 12_

[Ill.u.s.tration: RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. ADULT.

Note the Barred Tail.]

Seen from below the reddish brown underparts and black and white barred tail will identify adults of this species. Immature birds are streaked below with blackish; the tail is dark grayish brown indistinctly barred, but the shoulder is always rusty, though this is not a marking one can see in life. L., male. 18; female, 20.

_Range._ Eastern North America from northern Florida to Canada; resident except in the northern part of its range.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common P.R. Ossining, common P.R.

Cambridge, common, Apl.-Nov., less common in winter. N. Ohio, common P.R. Glen Ellyn, P.R., more common than the Red-tail; chiefly T.V.

A medium-sized, heavy-bodied Hawk with wings which, when closed, reach well toward the tip of the tail. It lives both in the woods and open places, and may be flushed from the border of a brook or seen soaring high in the air. Its note, frequently uttered, as it swings in wide circles, is a distinctive _Kee-you, Kee-you_, quite unlike the call of any of our other Hawks. It is often well imitated by the Blue Jay. The Red-shoulder feeds chiefly on mice and frogs. It nests in trees 30-60 feet up and, in April, lays 3-5 eggs, white marked with brown.

The Florida Red-shouldered Hawk (_Buteo lineatus alleni_), a smaller form with grayer head and paler underparts, is a resident in Florida and along the coast from South Carolina to Mexico. It nests in February.

BROAD-WINGED HAWK

_Buteo platypterus_

With a general resemblance to the Red-shouldered Hawk, but smaller; no red on the bend of the wing, or rusty in the primaries, only the outer three of which are 'notched.' L., male, 15; female, 16.

_Range._ Eastern North America. Breeding from the Gulf States to the St. Lawrence; winters from Ohio and Delaware to S.A.; migrates northward in March.

Was.h.i.+ngton, uncommon P.R. Ossining, tolerably common S.R., Mch. 15-Oct. 23. Cambridge, uncommon T.V. in early fall, rare in spring and summer; Apl. 25-Sept. 30. N. Ohio, not common P.R. Glen Ellyn, not common S.R., Apl. 10-Oct. 4. SE. Minn., common S.R., Mch. 11.

A rather retiring, unwary Hawk which nests in thick woods and is less often seen in the open than the Red-shoulder, but, when migrating, hundreds pa.s.s high in the air, with other Hawks. Its call is a high, thin, penetrating whistle. It nests in late April and early May, laying 2-4 whitish eggs marked with brown.

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK

_Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis_

Legs feathered to the toes; basal half of tail white; belly black. Some individuals are wholly black. L., male, 21; female, 23.

_Range._ Breeds in northern Canada; usually rare and irregular in the northern U.S., from November to April.

Was.h.i.+ngton, rare and irregular W.V. Ossining, casual. Cambridge, T.V., not common, Nov.-Dec.; Mch.-Apl. N. Ohio, not common W.V., Nov. 20-Apl.

3. Glen Ellyn, quite common W.V., Oct. 12-Apl. 30.

SE. Minn., W.V., Oct. 15-Mch.

Frequents fields and marshes, where it hunts to and fro after mice, which form its princ.i.p.al fare.

GOLDEN EAGLE

_Aquila chrysaetos_

With the Bald Eagle, largest of our raptorial birds; with a general resemblance to the young of that species, in which the head and tail are dark, but with the legs feathered to the toes. L., male, 32; female, 37.

_Range._ Northern parts of the northern Hemisphere; in the United States, rare east of the Mississippi.

Was.h.i.+ngton, rare W.V., Ossining, A.V. Cambridge, 1 record. N. Ohio, rare W.V. SE. Minn., P.R.

The Golden Eagle is so rare in the eastern United States and its general resemblance to a young Bald Eagle is so close, that only an experienced ornithologist could convince me that he had seen a Golden Eagle east of the Mississippi.

BALD EAGLE

_Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus. Case 3, Fig. 11_

When immature the head and tail resemble the body in color, and at this age the bird is sometimes confused with the more western Golden Eagle. The latter has the head browner and the legs feathered to the toes. L., male, 33; female, 35.

_Range._ North America but rare in the interior and in California, migratory at the northern limit of its range.

Was.h.i.+ngton, not common P.R. Ossining, common P.R.

Cambridge, of irregular occurrence at all seasons.