English and Scientific names:	Rough-legged Hawk, Buteo lagopus
Number of individuals:	1, Black terminal band behind white basal feathers of tail, a black belly area with brown streaks around it, the legs were feathered all the way to the tarsus, the long wings had a black wrist area, the entire wing was surrounded by black edging, the flight was low and seemed floppier than nearby Red-winged Hawks.  I guess I have just described a juvenile Rough-winged Hawk, light morph.
Locality: LOUISIANA:	Natchitoches
Specific Locality:	Bar pits of the Powhatan Exit from I-49, some 6 miles north of Natchitoches, on the west side of the interstate.
Date(s) when observed:	11 Jan 1999
Time(s) of day when observed:	11 AM
Reporting observer and address:	Hubert Hervey Stonewall LA
Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):	Pat Hervey, other BSG members had seen the bird on previous days.
Other observers who independently identified the bird(s)	Rosemary Seidler, Mac Hardy, Jim Ingold, Charlie Lyon
Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):	Good light on a partly cloudy day.
Optical equipment:	Scope while perched, and binoculars in flight, Bushnell to 60 X and Swift Ultralites 8 X 40.
Distance to bird(s):	60 yards to 200 yards.
Duration of observation:	1 hour.
Habitat:	Bar pits surrounded by 10 year growth of black willow, pits filling with cat-tails, this area surrounded by various ag crops, corn, soy beans, cotton, rice and fallow fields.
Behavior of bird:	Flushed from low in willows as we drove toward the trees, flew low, showing the white area at base of tail feathers clearly, and the mottled appearance of wing pattern, both under-wing and upper-wing.  Circled around into farther trees where he was available for scoping.  Remained perched for scoping and the black carpals present in all Red-tails were lacking, so Red-tail Hawk was easy to eliminate.  By carpals I mean the leading edge of the wing, next to the body.
Description:	This was a mostly brown, large buteo, with a floppy flight.  I saw the rough legs, with feathers to the tarsus, thru the scope, I saw the black outlining the wing with a black patch at the wrist, and white predominating the tail feathers ahead of a black terminal band.  A large bird larger than a Red-tailed Hawk, especially considering the wing length.  A blackish upper belly was plain to see .
Voice:	Not heard
Similar species:	Red-tailed Hawks were numerous in the area, they are a favorite bird of mine, and all of the above eliminates them.  White in tail, black spot at wrist, black belly, etc.  It did not have the white rump of a Northern Harrier, and although it flew with a slight dihedral, it was not as pronounced as a harrier, nor as flat as a Red-tailed.
Photographs or tape recordings obtained?	Not by me.
Previous experience with this species:	In Arizona.
Identification aids:	National Geographic, Sibley.
This description is written from:	mostly memory
Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain:	Yes.
Date and time:	Today is Sep 5, 2009, the bird was seen on 11 Jan 1999