PŒCILOPTERNIS. Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 329.
Bill short, wide at base, edges of upper mandible festooned; nostrils
large, ovate; wings long, wide, fourth and fifth quills usually longest;
tail moderate, rather wide; tarsi rather long, and having transverse
scales before and behind, but laterally small circular scales; toes
moderate, rather short; claws strong. Comprises about twenty species,
inhabiting all countries.
1. Buteo borealis. (Gmelin.) The Red-tailed Hawk. The American
Buzzard.
Falco borealis, leverianus and jamaicensis. Gmelin, Syst. Nat., I.
p. 266. (1788.)
Falco aquilinus. Bartram, Trav., p. 290. (1791.)
Buteo ferruginicaudus. Vieill., Ois. d’Am. Sept., I. p. 32.
(1807.)
Accipiter ruficaudus. Vieill., Ois. d’Am. Sept., I. p. 43. (1807.)
Buteo fulvus and americanus. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., IV. pp. 472,
477. (1816.)
Vieill., Ois. d’Am. Sept., I. pl. 6, 14; Wils., Am. Orn., VI. pl. 52,
figs. 1, 2; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 51, oct. ed., I. pl. 7; Gosse, Ill.
B. of Jamaica, pl. 2; Lembeye, B. of Cuba, pl. 1. fig. 1.
Adult. Tail bright rufous, narrowly tipped with white, and having a
subterminal band of black. Entire upper parts dark umber-brown;
lighter, and with fulvous edgings, on the head and neck; scapulars,
with a generally concealed basal portion, white, with brown bands;
upper tail-coverts generally yellowish white, but frequently on their
inner webs of the same rufous as the tail, and with brown spots and
bands. Throat white, with brown longitudinal stripes; other
under-parts yellowish-white or fawn color, with many longitudinal
lines and spots of reddish-brown, tinged with fulvous, most numerous
on the breast, and an irregular band across the abdomen of oblong
longitudinal spots and narrow transverse bars; under tail-coverts and
tibiæ generally immaculate, but the latter frequently spotted, and
transversely barred with light rufous. Under surface of the tail
silvery white. Young. Tail, in many specimens, pale-brown, with
numerous bands of a deeper shade of the same color, and tipped with
white; upper tail-coverts white, banded more or less regularly with
dark-brown; other upper parts dark umber-brown, many feathers narrowly
edged with white and with partially concealed spots of white. Entire
under-parts white, sides of the breast with large oval spots of brown,
and a wide irregular band on the abdomen composed of similar spots of
the same color; tibiæ and under tail-coverts with irregular bands and
sagittate spots of brown.
Dimensions. _Female_—total length, 22 to 24 inches; wing, 15½ to 16;
tail, 8½ inches. _Male_—19½ to 21 inches; wing, 14; tail, 7½ to 8
inches.
Hab. Eastern North America; Fur-countries (Richardson); Wisconsin
(Hoy); Florida (Bartram); Jamaica (Gosse); Cuba (Lembeye).
Obs. One of the most common and easily recognized of the North American
species. It is diffused throughout the eastern portion of the continent,
but in the west appears to be replaced by the succeeding.
2. Buteo Swainsoni. Bonaparte, Comp. List, p. 3. (1838.) The Western
Buzzard.
Buteo montana. Nutt., Man. Orn., I. p. 112. (1840.)
“Buteo vulgaris.” Rich. and Sw., Faun. Bor. Am. Birds, p. 47.
“Falco buteo. Linn.” Aud., Orn. Biog., IV. p. 508.
Faun. Bor. Am. Birds, pl. 27; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 372, oct. ed., I.
pl. 6.
General form and appearance very similar to _B. borealis_, but rather
larger, and with the wings longer; neck and upper part of the breast
brown; tibiæ light rufous, with transverse bars of a deeper shade of
the same. Tail bright rufous, narrowly tipped with white, and with a
subterminal band of black; upper tail-coverts rufous and white; entire
other upper parts dark umber-brown, with partially concealed
ashy-white and pale fulvous bands and spots on the scapulars and
shorter quills. Lower breast white, tinged and with irregular
transverse bands of pale-rufous; abdomen with a broad irregular
transverse band composed of longitudinal lines and oblong spots of
brown, and tinged with rufous. This abdominal band nearly obsolete in
some specimens. Under tail-coverts yellowish-white; under surface of
the tail silvery-white, with a reddish shade.
Young. Upper parts dark-brown, edged and spotted with white tinged
with rufous; tail above ashy-brown, with dark-brown bands, and tipped
with white. Under parts white, on the sides and abdomen with large
oblong spots of brown; tibiæ and under tail-coverts white, with
transverse bars and large spots of brown.
Dimensions. _Female_—total length, 23 to 26 inches; wing, 16½ to 17;
tail, 9 to 10 inches. _Male_—smaller.
Hab. Northern and western regions—Rocky Mountains and Oregon (Dr.
Townsend); California (Mr. Bell); Wisconsin (Dr. Roy); Mexico (Rivoli
collection).
Obs. Nearly related to _B. borealis_, and much resembling it. We have
never seen, however, specimens of the latter with the brown space on the
neck and breast so extensive as in specimens of the present species
brought from California by Mr. Bell, nor with the transverse bars on the
abdomen, as is usual in this species, and as represented in the plate in
Fauna Boreali Americana. It is brought frequently in collections from
Western America; and the young may be _Buteo ventralis_. Gould.
3. Buteo lineatus. (Gmelin.) The Red-shouldered Hawk. The Winter
Falcon.
Falco lineatus and hyemalis. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. pp. 268, 274.
(1788.)
Falco buteoides. Nutt., Man., I. p. 100. (1st edition, 1832.)
Vieill., Ois. d’Am. Sept., pl. 5; Wils., Am. Orn., pl. 53, fig. 3;
Aud., B. of Am., pl. 56, 71, oct. ed., I. pl. 9; Nat. Hist. N. Y., pl.
6, fig. 13.
Smaller than the preceding. Adult. Wing-coverts, from its flexure to
the body, fine bright rufous; breast and other inferior parts paler
rufous; many feathers with narrow lines of black on their shafts, and
spotted and barred transversely with white; the latter color
predominating on the under tail-coverts. Entire upper-parts brown; on
the head and neck much mixed with rufous, and with white spots on the
wing-coverts and shorter quills and rump; quills brownish-black,
spotted with white on their outer webs, and with bars of a lighter
shade of the same color and of white on their inner webs; tail
brownish-black, with about five transverse bands of white, and tipped
with white. Younger. Under parts with large sagittate spots and wide
bars of rufous, tinged with brown. Young. Entire under-parts
yellowish-white, with longitudinal stripes and oblong spots of brown;
throat brown; upper parts brown, with partially concealed spots and
bars of white; quills dark-brown, with wide bars of rufous, and white
on both webs; tail brown, with many bands of pale brownish and
rufous-white; tail beneath silvery-white.
Dimensions. _Female_—total length, 22 to 24 inches; wing, 14; tail, 9
inches. _Male_—total length, 18 to 20 inches; wing, 11½ to 12; tail, 8
inches.
Hab. North America; Oregon (Townsend); California (Heermann);
Wisconsin (Hoy); South Carolina (Gibbes).
Obs. An abundant and rather difficult species to the student. The young
bird, which is _Falco hyemalis_ Gm., is the more usually met with, and
bears very little resemblance to the adult.