04 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January 



Sets 4061 and 4224, measuring- respectively 57^ and 63^ cc. 

 were taken in i8q8 and 1900 from a nest near Mount Brydges. 

 Their extraordinary size, as well as the markings, and the fact 

 that they were in the same nest, testify to their being the product 

 of the same hen. In 1901 she not only moved from the old nest, 

 but removed every vestig^e of it from the tree. That nest had 

 existed for at least twelve years, and was occupied by a red- 

 shouldered hawk each year that the locality was visited. She 

 built a new nest about one quarter mile east of the old one in the 

 same woods, and laid set No. 3780, averaging 6i:^ cc, which 

 in size and colors agree with the former ones. This hen must 

 have been of extraordinary size to lay such large eggs, and as the 

 female hawk is usually larger than the male, it is probable that 

 this one was much larger than her mate, and she may have been 

 entirely too authoritative in her manner to suit him ; at any rate, 

 when she vanished from the scene (between the springs of 1901 

 and 1902), he proceeded to get for himself a 'nate as near the 

 other extreme as possible, and the new occupant laid in 1902, the 

 4 eggs No. 3887, which measure from 40 cc. to 43 cc, and 

 average 4.^ cc, being the smallest average by 2 cc. of any set 

 of red-shoulders to which I have had access. These eggs were 

 laid near the original site, in an oak tree, and it is interesting- to 

 note that the original site in a gnarly beach, is occupied this year 

 by a crow, and may probably be again used by a bird of prey in 

 the near future. 



Set No 4225, in 1900, averaging 50 cc , and No. 3782, in 

 1901, averaging 46 cc, were taken in Komoka swamp from trees 

 about 50 yards apart and size and shape as well as locality pro- 

 claim them to be from the same bird. She, too, has evidently 

 perished, as in 1902 the pair here used a nest in a pine tree near- 

 by, probably the same one that was used by them in 1901 for their 

 second set, which was placed in just such a position, and the set 

 of eggs No. 3888, averaging 57 cc, are in every respect different 

 from those of the previous years. 



The last series to be considered begins with set No. 3349, 

 averaging 52 cc, and laid in 1885. From the same corner of 

 the same woods was taken set No. 4040, in 1898, and while their 

 colour is very similar to the set of 1885, the measurements, aver- 



