36 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



This Hawk is very destructive among domestic poultry, 

 and is generally regarded with dislilie. I have known of 

 instances when he has almost completely depopulated a 

 poultry-yard before he could be captured. 



It is the custom of the Hawk, when he has once had a 

 taste of a flock of fowls, to visit it regularly every day at 

 about the same time ; sometimes in the afternoon, oftener 

 in the morning. 



The moment his cry is heard, the shrill alarm of the cock 

 is given, when the hens run hither and tliither, cackling, 

 and adding to their own affright ; the guinea-fowls rattle 

 their discordant notes ; the mother with her chickens becomes 

 almost frantic in her efforts to protect her young from 

 the inevitable destroyer. In the midst of this clatter, the 

 pirate who has been its sole cause comes on eager wing, 

 and, selecting the fattest of the flock, pounces upon it, and, 

 with scarcely an effort, bears it off to feast his mate and 

 young. The Ruffed Grouse (^Bonasa umhellus) and Com- 

 mon Hare (^Lepus Americanus) both fall victims; and the 

 number he destroys is very great. 



The Red-Tailed Hawk builds its nest in a lofty fork of a 

 large tree. The nest is one of the largest of our rapacious 

 birds, — in one case, to my knowledge, exceeding two feet 

 in width and twenty inches in depth. It is constructed of 

 large sticks and twigs ; is but slightly hollowed ; and is 

 lined with smaller twigs, leaves, and moss. The eggs are 

 generally three in number, seldom more : their ground- 

 color is a dirty yellowish-white, with blotches of a yellow- 

 ish-brown, and sometimes distinct blotches of a darker 

 brown. Their form varies from nearly spherical to ovoidal ; 

 but they are, in general, nearly as large at one end as at the 

 other. Dimensions of specimens vary from 2.12 to 2.25 

 inches in length, by from 1.68 to 2 inches in breadth. 



Three eggs that I took from a nest in the southern part 

 of Oliio, early in the month of April, measure 2.18 by 1.62 ; 

 2.14 by 1.70 ; and 2.20 by 2 inches, — averaging a little 



