240 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tilly make over an old squirrel's nest, or an old nest of the crow or 

 another species of hawk. One pair used, for one season only, a large 

 nest originally built by a pair of redshoulders and subsequently oc- 

 cupied for two seasons by a pair of redtails. A typical nest in a 

 3-branched main crotch of a chestnut was made of dead hardwood 

 sticks and dead leaves, lined with a few strips of inner bark, lichens, 

 and a few chips of outer bark; it was built up to a height of 12 

 inches on what was probably an old squirrel's nest, and measured 17 

 inches in greatest diameter. Another nest in a white pine was made 

 of pine sticks and twigs, lined with chips of outer bark. All the 

 nests of which I have the records were more or less profusely lined 

 with chips of outer bark of oak or pine, which sometimes filled the 

 whole center of the structure; a few were also partially lined with 

 fresh sprigs of pine and many with green oak leaves; in one nest a 

 sprig of fresh oak leaves had been laid over the eggs. The largest 

 nest measured 21 by 17 inches in outside diameter and the smallest 

 14 by 12 inches ; the inner cavity varied from 6 to 7 inches in diame- 

 ter and from 1 to 3 inches in depth ; the outside height varied from 

 5 to 12 inches according to the location, the flattest nests being in 

 pines. 



Only once have we known a pair to use the same nest for two sea- 

 sons. In only a few cases have we Imown them to nest in the same 

 tract of woods for more than two successive seasons and never for 

 more than three or four. This is in marked contrast to the stability 

 of red-shouldered hawks in their established homes. 



In other parts of its range a great variety of forest trees has 

 been chosen by the broad-winged hawk as nesting sites; the most 

 abundant and characteristic large tree of the region seems to be the 

 one of tenest chosen. Mr. Burns (1911) lists pines, hemlocks, spruces, 

 larch, chestnut, oaks, birches, maples, beech, linden, poplars, cotton- 

 wood, balm-of-Gilead. hickories, walnuts, magnolias, ashes, wild 

 cherry, and elm. He also says : "The height from the ground varies 

 from 3 feet in the broad-forked bole in Minnesota as recorded by 

 George Cantv/ell, to the 87 foot oak of Delaware Co., Pa., essaj^ed 

 by Harry G. Parker, and the 90 foot black ash of Kalamazoo, Mich., 

 made famous by Dr. Gibbs." 



He took the trouble to dissect a newly built nest tliat contained 

 the following material : 



20 white oak twigs, 6 to 10 inches long ; 26 chestnut twigs, 4 to 16 inches ; 

 50 chestnut oak twigs, 5 to 16 inches long and many-branched ; 77 dead sticks 

 probably principally chestnut ; 2 chestnut blossoms, 46 chestnut bark scales, 

 1 X 2 to 2 X 6 inches ; and a few leaf sprays. It was placed upon a foundation 

 consisting of a Crow's nest, from which it was separated. * ♦ * 



An almost invariable custom of the Broad-wing is that of placing sprays of 

 fresh green leaves and sometimes blossoms, of the chestnut, oak, poplar, maple, 



