246 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



tint marked with splashes of various shades of brown. {G. R. 

 White.) This species breeds, in small numbers only, in the vicinity 

 of London, Ont. The nest is usually in pine trees and the eggs four 

 to six. (W. E. Saunders.) Frequently seen in Ontario, but an 

 uncommon breeder. I have seen two nests, both built in hemlock 

 trees, the first in Leeds county, about tv^^enty feet from the ground ; 

 the second one on an island in Sharbot lake, Frontenac county, 

 which, on June 6th, 1905, contained four fresh eggs. {Rev. C. J. 

 Young.) A nest of this species was taken at the corner of Dow 

 swamp, near the canal, close to the city of Ottawa, July 6th, 1900. It 

 was in a balsam fir, about fifteen feet from the ground, built of sticks, 

 and lined with cedar bark {Thuya occidentalis) . It is quite common 

 in Saskatchewan, and a number of nests were taken in June, 1895. 

 On June 12th, a nest was taken in a willow thicket at the police 

 station. Wood mountain. It was in the crotch of a willow, less 

 than ten feet from the ground, built of sticks and lined inside with 

 finer material of the same character. There were four eggs partly 

 incubated, light greenish in colour and heavily spotted with brown. 

 Another nest, in a spruce tree, was taken, built of the same class 

 of material, on Farewell creek. Cypress hills, June 27th. In this 

 nest the eggs were half incubated. {Macoun.) I have clutches of 

 eggs of this little hawk taken near Toronto, also others taken in 

 Muskoka, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It builds its nest in tree- 

 tops and lays from four to six handsomely marked eggs. {W. 

 Raine.) This bird has always been regarded as a rare summer 

 resident near London, Ont., but during the summer of 1900, six 

 nests were found by three observers, and it may prove to be more 

 common than was supposed. Its silent, unobtrusive manners may 

 have been its shield from observation. These nests, as well as 

 four others taken in previous years, were all in conifers, five of the 

 ten being in tamarac. All of them were built of twigs, and many 

 had a few flakes of bark as a lining. One nest was on an old founda- 

 tion, but ail the others were entirely new. In height from the ground 

 they varied from fifteen to thirty feet. The birds were in some 

 cases fairly silent and peaceful, and in others very noisy and aggres- 

 sive; in one case particularly the male v/ould attack a man 100 

 yards distant, although the nest was not found. All the sets of 

 eggs taken, varying from three to six to the set, are very handsome, 

 particularly one set of six fresh eggs, in which the colour of the 



