1916] The Ottawa Naturalist. 99 



favorite location of the nest is in a thick clump of spruce near a 

 clearing. Any large area of black spruce usually contains a pair of 

 sharp-shins. The bird is generally a close sitter and only a well aimed 

 stick or stub will dislodge her. 



There is a certain amount of individuality in this species. Some 

 birds are very quiet after being flushed off the nest, the alarm notes 

 even being absent, while others are very lively and noisy and will 

 return immediately to attack. One pair would not permit packing of 

 the eggs under the nest, but would dart to the ground and almost fly 

 in my face. Some pairs return to the same woods year after year even 

 after bing disturbed. Others may raise their young in a woods, but it 

 does not necessarily follow that the birds will occupy the same locality 

 the next season. Should the first set be taken, the birds have been 

 known to lay a second one in the same nest, or depart a short distance 

 away and start operations afresh, but this is not the rule; the pair 

 generally leave the woods. 



The sharp-shinned hawk has two distinct alarm notes when the 

 nest is approached, the usual cackling call in the earlier stages of the 

 nesting season and a series of squealing notes, not unlike those of the 

 grouse, after the young are hatched, alternating from one call to the 

 other when the young are well grown. 



En passant, it has occurred to me to point out the characteristics 

 of a pair of hawks which I have kept under observation for a few 

 years. 



In the fall of 1912, while exploring some mixed small growth of 

 timber encroaching on a spruce bog, I noticed seven or eight nests of 

 the sharp-shinned hawk placed at low elevations, ten to fifteen feet 

 in height, in black spruce saplings. These were all within a radius of 

 fifty yards and apparently the work of one pair of birds. 



On May 24, 1913, I visited this wood again and rapped all 

 spruces containing these small nests . There were no signs of occupancy 

 about the nests and it was quite apparent that no bird was on any of 

 them. No hawk was seen in the neighborhood, nor was one heard, so 

 the trees were not climbed. Four weeks later, on June 22, I passed 

 through this group of nests and was amazed to see a sharp-shinned 

 hawk leaving one of the identical nests I had previously pounded. In 

 a minute I was gazing at five young sharp-shins in white down, prob- 

 ably only a few days old. The female flew in wide circles around the 

 nest, but was peaceful and silent. On my first visit the bird had, 

 no doubt, left the nest on my approach. 



On May 29, 1914, Mr. L. M. Terrill and I purposely set out to 

 gather additional information as to this secretive pair of hawks. On 

 the way we decided not to leave anything to hazard, but to climb to all 

 the nests and examine them carefully. The wood was quiet and no 

 birds were in sight. My friend started to ascend one nest and pointed 



