FALCONIDJE. CIRCUS IIUDSONICUS. 43 



this corresponds with my own experience, but not so with respect to the size of the 

 eggs. The nests have been invariably on the ground, near water, built of dry grass, 

 and lined with softer materials. 



Mr. Audubon found this Hawk breeding on the barrens of Kentucky, the cleared 

 table-lands of the Alleghanies, and in the high covered pine-barrens of the Floridas. 

 Having considerable doubts whether any American writer who had spoken of the 

 Marsh Hawk had ever seen one of its nests, this same writer gives a very minute 

 account of one which he found on Galveston Island, Texas. It was about a hundred 

 yards from a pond, on a ridge just raised above the marsh, and was made of dry grass ; 

 the internal diameter was eight, and the external twelve inches, with the depth of 

 two and a half. No feathers were found. If, however, by dwelling upon their ab- 

 sence, Mr. Audubon intended to cast any discredit upon Sir John Richardson's 

 accuracy in his description of the nests of this species, as seen by him, because the 

 latter speaks of feathers having been employed, I am convinced he really had no 

 good grounds. A warm lining to a nest may be required in a climate of latitude 

 65 north, while the same necessity will not be found in one of 29. A nest observed 

 in Concord, Mass., by Dr. H. R. Storer, was on the edge of a pond, and was warmly 

 lined with feathers and fine grasses. Many other instances might be named, but 

 one well-attested example is sufficient. 



Mr. Audubon speaks of the eggs found in the Galveston nest as four in number, 

 smooth, considerably rounded or broadly elliptical, bluish-white, an inch and three 

 quarters in length, and an inch and a quarter in breadth. Another nest, found under 

 a low bush on the Alleghanies, was constructed in a similar manner, but was more 

 bulky, the bed being four inches above the earth, and the egg slightly sprinkled with 

 small marks of pale reddish-brown. 1 



One egg represented in the plate was obtained on Galveston Island, by Mr. Au- 

 dubon. Three others in my collection were taken, one in New Jersey, by Mr. John 

 Krider, of Philadelphia, one in Louisiana, by Dr. Trudeau, and one in Concord, 

 Massachusetts. The first, which is one of the four referred to above, is marked on 

 the shell, in Mr. Audubon's handwriting, "April 29, 1837, Galveston Island." Its 

 color is rather a soiled than a bluish white, and its exact measurements are, length, 

 l^f inches; breadth, ! T 5 g. The third measures 1{| by l T 7 g- inches; and the last 

 1-if by 1 T 6 ^ inches. Their color is white, with a very slight shade of bluish, and 

 faintly marked with brown. They are much longer than the one obtained by Mr. 

 Audubon, almost enough so to be suggestive of specific differences. Their shape 

 is also different, both being more pyriform, especially the specimen from Massa- 

 chusetts, which is quite pointed at the smaller end. The last was obtained early 

 in June. 



Since the above was prepared for publication, I have received, through the 



1 I think that a more careful scrutiny of the egg of this Hawk may show that the prevalent impression 

 of the absence of spots and markings will prove to be an error. All that I have seen, except the one 

 referred to from Louisiana, are more or less marked with light-brown blotches. These markings are not 

 always very distinct, but so far as my present experience goes, they are to be found if carefully 

 sought. 



