FERRUGINOUS ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
348. Archibuteo ferrugineus. 23 in.
Legs feathered to the toes. Adults with back, shoulders, thighs and legs, rusty, barred or streaked with black; tail grayish-white, tinged with rusty. Young birds are brownish-black, above and without any rusty below. In the dark phase they are sooty-brown, more or less varied with rusty, and the tail is the same as in the light plumage. Their bill is larger and tail longer than that of the last species. A fairly abundant hawk on the plains and prairies west of the Miss., usually not at a great distance from water.
Nest.—Usually on the ground on bluffs or rocky ledges, but sometimes in trees; made of sticks and weeds; sometimes used year after year, and then becoming bulky, as it is added to each year; eggs white, handsomely spotted and blotched with blackish-brown, very variable.
Range.—Breeds west of the Miss., from Kansas, locally, and the Dakotas, abundantly, north to Saskatchewan. Winters south to Mexico.
