Chapter I: GENUS BUTEO. Cuvier, Reg. An., I. p. 323. (1817.)

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.

4. Buteo Bairdii. Hoy, Proc. Acad. Philada., VI. p. 451. (1853.)

Female. Rather smaller than _B. lineatus_; wings long and pointed;
third primary longest; tail moderate, rounded. Entire upper-parts dark
brown, with a purplish-bronze lustre, especially on the primaries;
plumage of the head and neck behind, and some feathers on the back,
edged and tipped with yellowish-white; upper tail-coverts
yellowish-white, with transverse bars of brown. Tail above
brownish-cinereous, and having about ten narrow bands of
brownish-black, and tipped with white. Under parts pale
yellowish-white, or fawn color, with a few sagittate spots of brown on
the sides, and a stripe of brown running downwards from the corner of
the mouth. Forehead white; under wing-coverts yellowish-white. Cere,
legs, and irides, yellow.

Younger? Upper parts very dark-brown, or nearly black, with purplish
lustre. Under parts with almost every feather having a large spot of
brownish-black, which color predominates on the breast, so as to
present a nearly uniform color with the upper parts; throat with
narrow stripes of the same color. Flanks and inferior wing-coverts
with circular and oval spots of white. Tibiæ dark-brown, with
transverse bars and circular and oval spots of reddish-white. Upper
tail-coverts reddish-white, with their outer edges brown, and with
transverse stripes of the same. Under tail-coverts yellowish-white,
with transverse stripes of brown. Forehead white; cheeks
yellowish-white. Stripes from the corners of the mouth wide and
conspicuous. Sex unknown.

Dimensions. _Female_—total length (of skin), 19½ inches; wing, 15;
tail, 8 inches, and about an inch longer than the folded wings.

Hab. Wisconsin. Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada.

Obs. This is a well-marked species, especially in the stage of plumage described above as probably the younger, in which the nearly uniformly brownish-black breast and large spots of the same color on the other under-parts, are striking characters. The first-described plumage resembles that of _B. pennsylvanicus_. We have seen only the two specimens now described, both of which are from the State of Wisconsin.

5. Buteo pennsylvanicus. (Wilson.) The Broad-winged Hawk.
Falco pennsylvanicus. Wils., Am. Orn., VI. p. 92. (1812.)
Falco latissimus. Wils., Am. Orn., VI. p. 92. (1812. Copies
printed later than those containing the preceding name.)
Sparvius platypterus. Vieill., Ency. Meth., III. p. 1273. (1823.)
Falco Wilsonii. Bonap., Jour. Acad. Philada., III. p. 348. (1824.)

Wils., Am. Orn., VI. pl. 54, fig. 1; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 91, oct. ed.
I. pl. 10; Nat. Hist. N. Y. Orn., pl. 5, fig. 11.

Smaller than either of the preceding. Adult. Entire upper-parts dark
umber-brown; feathers on the back of the neck white at their bases.
Throat white, with narrow longitudinal lines of brown, and with a
patch of brown on each side, running from the base of the lower
mandible; breast with a wide band composed of large cordate and
sagittate spots and transverse stripes of reddish-ferruginous tinged
with ashy; other under-parts white, with numerous sagittate spots
disposed to form transverse bands on the lower part of the breast,
flanks, abdomen, and tibiæ. In some specimens, in winter plumage, the
ferruginous color predominates on all the under parts, except the
under tail-coverts, and all the feathers have large circular spots on
each edge; under tail-coverts white. Tail dark-brown, narrowly tipped
with white, and with one broad band of white and several other
narrower bands nearer the base. Quills brownish-black, widely bordered
with pure white on their inner webs. Young. Plumage above umber-brown,
edged on the head and back of the neck with fulvous, and with many
feathers on other upper-parts edged with the same color and
ashy-white; upper tail-coverts spotted with pure white. Under-parts
white, generally tinged with yellowish, many feathers having oblong
and lanceolate longitudinal stripes and spots of brown; a stripe of
brown on each side of the neck from the base of the under mandible.
Tail brown, with several bands of a darker shade of the same and of
white on the inner webs of the feathers and narrowly tipped with
white.

Dimensions. _Female_—total length, 17 to 18 inches; wing, 11; tail, 6½
to 7 inches. _Male_—smaller.

Hab. Eastern North America; Florida (Abadie); Long Island (Giraud);
Wisconsin (Hoy). Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada.

Obs. This handsome little species is of rather unusual occurrence in the middle and southern States, though according to Dr. Hoy it is abundant in Wisconsin. It is an easily recognized species, though presenting considerable variations in color, according to age and season.

The names _Falco pennsylvanicus_ and _Falco latissimus_ occur in different copies of the sixth volume of the original edition of Wilson (1812), and the probability is that the latter was substituted by the author, in the later printed copies, after he had noticed that he had previously applied the name _pennsylvanicus_ to another species. Of the last three volumes only second editions were published under the editorship of Mr. Ord; the seventh and eighth in 1824, and the ninth in 1825. The statement in Hall’s edition, I. p. 92 (Philadelphia, 1828), that the name _latissimus_ was given by Mr. Ord, is therefore incorrect. That gentleman, now President of the Philadelphia Academy, and of whose advice and instruction we have the great advantage and gratification, informs us that he had nothing to do with either of the names to which we here allude.

6. Buteo Harlani. (Aud.) Harlan’s Buzzard. The Black Warrior.
Falco Harlani. Audubon, Orn. Biog., I. p. 441. (1831. Plate pub.
1830)
“Buteo borealis.” Gray, Catalogue of Birds in British Museum,
Accipitres, p. 34.
Buteo albonotatus. Gray, Cat. Brit. Mus., Accipitres, p. 36; Kaup,
Isis, 1847, pp. 329, 369?

Aud., B. of Am., pl. 86, oct. ed. I. pl. 8.

“Head very large; neck short; body robust. Feet of ordinary length;
tarsus a little compressed, scutellate before and behind, reticularly
scaly on the sides; toes scutellate above, scaly on the sides,
tubercular and scabrous beneath; claws curved, roundish, very acute.
Plumage compact; feathers of the head and neck short and rounded;
tibial feathers elongated, and loose at the tips. Wings long; first
quill short, third and fifth equal; first primaries cut out on the
inner web towards the end. Tail longish, ample, of twelve broad,
rounded feathers. Bill light-blue, black towards the end; cere and
angles of the mouth yellowish-green. Iris light yellowish-brown. Feet
dull greenish yellow; claws black.

“The general color of the plumage is deep chocolate-brown; the
under-parts lighter, the feathers there being margined with
light-brown. Tail lighter than the back, and rather narrowly barred
with brownish-black, the tips brownish-red. Under wing-coverts
whitish, spotted with deep-brown. Length, 21 inches; extent of wings,
45; bill, along the back, 1½; along the gap, from the tip of the lower
mandible, 1½; tarsus, 1¾.” (Aud., as above.)

Adult? Brownish-black, with a purplish lustre; occipital feathers
white at base, and a few white feathers in front at the base of the
bill. Under wing-coverts black, with circular spots and irregular bars
of white. Quills white on their inner webs for about two-thirds of
their length, and transversely barred with pale ashy-brown. Tail above
brownish black, tinged with ashy, and with about six to eight bars of
black, the widest of which is next to the tip, which is white. Inner
webs of the tail-feathers, except the two in the middle, white,
mottled with ashy, and with the transverse bars conspicuous; tail
beneath ashy-white. Plumage of the back and entire under-parts of the
body white at base, and having concealed pairs of circular and oval
spots of white most obvious on the abdomen and under tail-coverts.
Bill and legs light-colored.

Dimensions. Total length (of skin), 20 inches; wing, 16½; tail, 9½
inches.

Hab. Louisiana (Audubon); Mexico? Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada.

Obs. The only bird that we have ever seen which appeared to be this species is that described above as probably the adult. It is one of two or three species of black Buzzards which inhabit Mexico and Central America, and we suspect it of being identical with _B. albonotatus_ (Gray, as above), though of that species there is no sufficient description published.

7. Buteo insignatus. Cassin. _New species._ (March, 1854.) The Canada
Buzzard.

Form robust; wings rather long, third quill longest, secondaries
emarginate at their tips; quills unusually broad; tail rather short,
slightly rounded; tarsi feathered in front below the joint, naked
behind, and having in front about ten transverse scales. Under
wing-coverts and under tail-coverts white, the former striped
longitudinally with pale-ferruginous, and some of them transversely
with dark-brown, the latter with transverse stripes of pale
reddish-brown. Plumage of the tibiæ dark-ferruginous mixed with brown.
Throat and a few feathers in front white, with narrow lines of black.
Entire other plumage above and below dark-brown, nearly every feather
having a darker or nearly black line on its shaft. Quills above brown,
with a purple lustre, beneath pale-ashy, with their shafts white, and
irregularly barred with white near their bases. Tail above dark-brown,
with an ashy or hoary tinge, and having about ten obscure bands of a
darker shade of the same color, beneath nearly white, with conspicuous
bands of brown, the widest of which is next to the tip, which is
paler. Tarsi and feet yellow. Sex unknown.

Dimensions. Total length (of skin), 17 inches; wing, 14½; tail, 7½
inches.

Hab. Canada (Dr. M’Culloch). Spec. in Mus. Nat. Hist. Soc. of
Montreal, Canada.

Obs. Of this very remarkable little Buzzard one specimen only has come under our notice, and is that above described. It belongs to the collection of the Natural History Society of Montreal, by whom it was most kindly sent to Philadelphia for examination at our request, through the good offices of M. M’Culloch, M. D., a distinguished physician and naturalist of that city.

In color, though a true _Buteo_, this bird differs from any known American species, and more resembles in that respect some stages of the young plumage of _Circus hudsonius_ or _C. æruginosus_. It was captured in the vicinity of Montreal.