NORTHERN RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 183 



the bird that laid it is big, the nest in which it was laid is big, the 

 tree in which the nest wag built is big, and the wood in which the 

 tree grows is big." And I have never quite lost that thrill. As I 

 walk down the old familiar cart path into the well-known woods, 

 the home of many generations of Buteos, I am filled with keen ex- 

 pectancy; the warning cry of the hawks is heard, and I am soon 

 gazing at a well-feathered nest in a lofty crotch. Perhaps the bird 

 has already flown, or perhaps a blow on the tree trunk will send her 

 sailing off through the woods. Sometimes she may return to circle 

 overhead and scream defiance, but oftener not. 



The outstanding feature of our experience with the red-shouldered 

 hawk has been the constancy with which each pair, or its continu- 

 ation, has clung to its chosen territory, in spite of the annual robbing 

 of its nest and the cutting down of one portion after another of its 

 woodland home. As long as there are any trees suitable for nesting 

 purposes the hawks will remain in the vicinity. We have had under 

 observation at various times over 30 pairs of these hawks within a 

 radius of 15 miles of my home. We have not had time to visit all 

 these pairs eveiy year but have located as many as 22 pairs in a 

 season as recently as 1922. There has been a marked decrease during 

 the past 10 years. To illustrate the continuity and permanency of 

 localized pairs, I submit brief histories of four of our oldest pairs. 



The "chestnut hill" pair was first located in 1882 in an extensive 

 tract of magnificent chestnut timber, where trees 4 feet in diameter 

 at the base and 60 feet to the first limb were not uncommon. The 

 hawks nested in this section for 8 years until extensive cutting of the 

 big timber forced them to move into an adjacent tract of swampy 

 woods. Meantime one of the hawks was shot by my companion, but 

 the survivor secured a new mate and occupied the same old nest the 

 following year. After that the hawks were forced to move every 

 few years, imtil the last of the woods were cut off. The last nest 

 of this pair was found in 1922, a lapse of 41 years, during which 

 we actually found the nest 20 times. 



The most continuous record is that of the "reservoir woods" pair. 

 From 1882 to 1907, inclusive, we found the nest every year, an un- 

 broken record of 26 years. From that time on our records were more 

 irregular, as more or less cutting was done in various parts of the 

 Avoods, until the last nest was found in 1923, after a lapse of 42 years, 

 during which we found the nest 31 times. In 1924 this last nest was 

 occupied by a pair of barred owls, and in 1928 we found red-tailed 

 hawks had appropriated the same old nest (see pi. 44). The woods 

 have been nearly ruined since then, and no hawks have nested there. 



The history of the "Goff's woods" pair is similar, but there are 

 more breaks in the record. It also began in 1882, and the last nest 



