270 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



the hawk was beaten the eagle would come down on him, the fish 

 was dropped, the eagle caught it and each would sail away, the 

 eagle to the forest, the hawk to the sea. Day after day this per- 

 formance was repeated and the hawk's nest was located but that of 

 the eagle was not seen. 



In June, 1893, the writer was collecting at Comox, Vancouver 

 island, and observed the same thing to a less extent, but besides 

 getting a supply from the hawks the eagle fished for himself. Not 

 by diving, however, but by going to stony flats at Cape Lazo and 

 fishing for himself. Shallow pools were left when tha tide was 

 out and in them numerous small fish, chiefly under stones. We 

 had been collecting seaweeds and small fish and a "singing fish," 

 we were told, was found there. This fish certainly made a booming 

 noise and guided us to its retreat, and numerous specimens were 

 collected. The eagle seemed to be guided by the sound for he, too, 

 obtained specimens under our very eyes. All my observations are 

 against this form killing birds. I have seen him catch snakes and 

 fish, steal fish from the fish hawk and eat carrion, but beyond that 

 I never saw him go. All observers report this species as breeding 

 near water and it seems to know that it is an advantage to build its 

 nest as near the food supply as possible. 



Breeding Notes. — This bird is fast becoming scarce in eastern 

 Ontario. Up to the year 1895 there was a nest every year in a tall 

 pine about seven miles east of Gananoque and a mile from the St. 

 Lawrence. There is still (1901) a nest every year near Charleston 

 lake, about ten miles from Lansdowne. It also breeds on Simcoe 

 island, opposite Kingston, Ont. I was present at the taking of its 

 eggs on 28th April, 1900, two in number and almost ready to hatch. 

 As the seventy acres of woodland in which this nest is situated are 

 being cleared of timber it is probable that the bird will shortly be 

 banished from this locality, but it still nests undisturbed on the 

 Duck islands and Timber island. Lake Ontario, and up to the year 

 1902 it nested in a large elm on Horse-shoe island, opposite Kingston, 

 Ont. {Rev. C. J. Young.)- 



This species nests regularly, though rarely, along the shores of 

 Lake Erie, and along other large bodies of water in Ontario where 

 the country is not too thickly settled, but I have never heard of, nor 

 seen it, breeding away from the water. {W . E. Saunders.) At 



