128 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



A. D. Henderson (1924) says that in the vicinity of Belvedere, 

 Alberta, "the usual breeding place is in heavy poplar woods contain- 

 ing a scattered growth of spruce." The height of the nests from 

 the ground varies from 25 to 75 feet. The nests are "made of dead 

 sticks, with a lining of strips of dry poplar bark and a few green 

 spruce twigs." He says further : "The Goshawk usually uses the old 

 nest of another Hawk, building it up on top and relining it, but 

 often builds a complete nest of its own. It seems to be attached to 

 the locality in which it breeds and will sometimes occupy the same 

 nest for a number of years. If the same nest is not occupied the 

 bird will probably be found breeding in the same belt of timber 

 not far away. I have never found a nest in an evergreen tree." 



The goshawk evidently does not show the decided preference ex- 

 hibited by its near relatives, the sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks, 

 for coniferous trees as nesting sites; in fact, most of the nests seem 

 to be found in deciduous trees in mixed woods. Out of 62 records 

 consulted, only 11 nests were in conifers, 7 in white pines, 2 in firs, 

 and 1 each in a spruce and a hemlock. Of the 51 other nests, 18 

 were in beeches, 14 in birches, 11 in poplars, 6 in maples, and 1 each 

 in an oak and a cottonwood. Lucien M. Turner (1886) says that in 

 Alaska it sometimes nests on rocky cliffs. It does, however, require 

 seclusion in some extensive tract of heavy timber, where it selects 

 one of the largest trees. The height from the ground varies from 

 18 to 75 feet, but most of the nests are between 30 and 40 feet up. 

 The nest is very large and is usuall}^ freshly built, but the hawk 

 often uses an old nest of its own for successive seasons or appropri- 

 ates and repairs an old nest of some other large hawk. 



Eggs. — The goshawk lays ordinarily three or four eggs, sometimes 

 only two and rarely five. These are ovate to elliptical-oval or oval 

 in shape. The shell is rather rough, finely granulated or pitted. 

 They are pale bluish white or dirty white and unmarked, except for 

 occasional nest stains. I have never seen or heard of a spotted egg. 

 The measurements of 50 eggs average 59.2 by 45.1 millimeters; the 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 65.5 by 47.3, 61,4 by 47.8, 

 52.7 by 43.9, and 56.1 by 42.9 millimeters. 



Young. — The period of incubation is said to be about 28 days, 

 but positive and accurate records seem to be lacking. Whether 

 both sexes incubate is not known. The young apparently remain 

 in the nest about four weeks and are fed at very infrequent intervals. 

 I watched my Newfoundland nest for nearly all of one day and 

 parts of two others, but no hawk came near it; Dr. George M. Sutton 

 (1925), who spent a whole day watching a nest, says: "To the best of 

 my knowledge the young bird in the nest was not fed all day, and 

 the one on the ground certainly not before late afternoon." This 

 may have been due to the presence of an observer, for I have noted 



