WESTERN GOSHAAVK 141 



Milton S. Ray (1926) took the first California set of eggs in the 

 high Sierras of Eldorado County. The first nest he found contained 

 three small downy young on June 19, 1922. It was "in a thickly tim- 

 bered and very swampy section of the wood, 25 feet up in a rather 

 small and slender tamarack." This nest was occupied again in 1923. 

 The nest from which he took his three eggs on April 30, 1924, "was 

 placed against the trunk of a lodgepole pine 35 feet up. The tree was 

 about 65 feet in height and most of its lower branches were dead." 

 He continues : 



This nest, like the one found previously, was located in the heart of a swampy- 

 forest of pines [pi. 43]. Surrounding the nest tree were blackish, inhospitable 

 pools of snow water, deep beds of pine needles, and thickets of fallen and 

 standing dead timber. Ever there, below, was the dark, cool shade of the lofty 

 pines and ever, above, the ceaseless roar of the wind in their swaying tops. 



The nest, a gray, weatherworn, ragged-looking structure, was oval in shape 

 and measured, in inches, 20 by 33 ; the long side was placed against the trunk 

 of the tree. By measuring, the odd projecting twigs gave it a size of 34 by 60. 

 The cavity proper was 9 by 2, and a very rough, uneven affair it was, with its 

 lining of green tamarack sprays, strips of tamarack bark, and a few scattered 

 goshawk feathers. The nest distinctly tapered towards its almost flat top and 

 was 29 inches in height (or 39 inches, counting certain projecting twigs). The 

 composition was entirely of small, smooth, dead tamarack t\vigs and branches. 

 Most of these were one-quarter inch in diameter, some were three-quarters and 

 some one-half, while a few were only one-eighth of an inch in diameter. I 

 found, however, that the coarse-looking nest was very compactly built, and 

 being supported by four branches of the tree and sheltered against the trunk, 

 was well fitted to withstand the snow and gales that sweep through these 

 altitudes in April and May. 



Eggs. — The eggs are indistinguishable from those of the eastern 

 goshawk. The measurements of 27 eggs average 59.3 by 45.6 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 65.5 by 49.5, 62.9 

 by 50.1, 55 by 44, and 58.6 by 43.2 millimeters. 



Behavior. — Major Bendire (1892) relates the following incident: 



At the outskirts of the garrison, near the cavalry stable, was an. old brush 

 corral, much frequented by the fowls kept in the neighborhood. While walking 

 past this fence I suddenly heard a great outcry and saw quite a commotion 

 among a number of chickens in the place, which were squeaking and scattering 

 in all directions at a lively rate. At the same instant a large Goshawk, an 

 adult female, dashed through the inclosure, failing to get a chicken this time, 

 however. I fired at her at short range, and, as it subsequently proved, pep- 

 pered her well with dust shot as she went by, which possibly disconcerted her 

 aim a little. Never dreaming for an instant that the bird would return after 

 such a reception, I nevertheless inserted a heavier cartridge in my gun, and 

 had scarcely done so when she came back to make a second and last attempt at 

 a too venturesome chicken. Tliis time I brought her down with a broken wing, 

 and her flight was so suddenly arrested that she rolled over several times after 

 striking on the ground. I never saw more vindictive fury expressed in a bird's 

 eye than was shown by hers. She tried to attack me, and would have done so 

 had she not been so badly wounded. The will and courage to do so were there, 

 but her strength failed her. On skinning her I found a number of dust shot 



