FALCONID^E. ACCIPITER FUSCUS. 19 



Drs. Gambcl and Heermann both speak of it as abundant in California. Audubon 

 found it very plentiful as far north as the southern shore of the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence. It has been obtained in New Mexico by Mr. McCall, in Mexico by Mr. 

 Pease, and in Washington Territory by Dr. Cooper and Dr. Sucklcy. Both Dr. 

 Gundlach and Lembcye give it as a Cuban species. It was not discovered in Ja- 

 maica by Mr. Gosse, nor am I aware that it has ever been detected south of Mexico. 

 It has been ascertained, from my own observations as Avell as those of others, to 

 breed in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, California, and Pennsylvania, and 

 it probably does so in the intervening States and Territories, and indeed in all, ex- 

 cept perhaps the most southern. 



Neither Mr. Wilson nor Mr. Nuttall was so fortunate as ever to find the nest of 

 this bird. Mr. Audubon speaks of having met with three, and all in different situa- 

 tions. One was in a hole in a rock, on the banks of the Ohio River ; another was 

 in the hollow of a broken branch, near Louisville, Ky., and the third in the forks 

 of a low oak, near Henderson, Ky. In the first case, the nest was slight and simply 

 constructed of a few sticks and some grasses, carelessly interwoven, and about two 

 feet from the entrance of the hole. In the second instance there was no nest 

 whatever ; but in the third, the birds were engaged in the construction of an 

 elaborate nest. The number of the eggs was four in one instance, and five in 

 another. He describes them as almost equally rounded at both ends, though 

 somewhat elongated, their ground color white, with a livid tinge, but scarcely dis- 

 cernible amid the numerous markings and blotches of reddish-chocolate with which 

 they were irregularly covered. In a nest, Avhich was large and elaborately con- 

 structed of sticks, and contained five eggs, found by Dr. H. R. Storer in Concord, 

 Mass., there was a single egg which nearly corresponds with this description. It 

 is, however, the only one among fifteen specimens which I have seen that at all 

 agrees with it. This specimen is a little more than usually elongate, and its ground 

 color, which is a purplish white, is nearly concealed by its blotches of various shades 

 of sepia-brown. This egg is represented on Plate V, fig. 5-4. In every other instance, 

 the egg is very nearly spherical, the ground color white, and beautifully marked 

 with large confluent blotches of sepia, varying in depth from a quite light to a very 

 dark shade. In one, these confluent markings form a broad belt around the centre 

 of the egg. In others, they are chiefly distributed about one end. The contrast 

 between the white ground and the dark confluent dashes of brown is very beautiful, 

 and, except in size, the eggs of this bird bear a marked resemblance to those of the 

 Sparrow-hawk of Europe. In a few instances, the' brown markings have a purplish 

 and reddish intermixture. 



In a majority of the instances in which I have known of the existence of the nest 

 of this Hawk, it has been constructed in trees. It is usually large in proportion to 

 the size of the bird, and its materials are somewhat elaborately put together ; it is 

 composed chiefly of large sticks and twigs, and the whole platform is covered with 

 a thin lining of dry leaves, mosses, grass, &c. Mr. John Krider of Philadelphia met 

 with a nest in New Jersey, in the vicinity of that city, which was built on the edge 

 of a high rock. Where such opportunities are afforded, this Hawk is often known 

 to frequent similar situations ; but its nest is more usually found in trees. 



