_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.
Washington, 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.