152 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITPID STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



quotes Dr. William L. Ralph as to its nesting in Oneida and Her- 

 kimer Counties, New York, as follows : 



lu this vicinity the Red-tailed Hawk prefers bircli trees above all others to 

 build in, and about 80 per cent, of their nests will be found in such situations. 

 The remaining 20 per cent, is about equally divided among beech, maple, 

 hemlock, elm, and basswood trees. Why these birds should prefer birch trees 

 I do not know, for they are usually not very hard to climb, while the most 

 difficult of their nests to reach were built in elm, hemlock, and basswood trees. 

 They generally select the largest and tallest trees they can find to build in, and 

 their nests are situated near the tops, in crotches formed by two or more large 

 limbs, or at the junction of large limbs with the trunks. They are usually 

 placed from 60 to 70 feet from the ground. 



William A. and George M. Smith, of Lyndonville, N. Y., have sent 

 me data on 46 New York sets, showing very different preferences ; 23 

 of their nests were in beeches, 9 in maples, 5 in oaks, 4 in elms, 3 in 

 basswoods, and 1 each in ash and hemlock. The heights from the 

 ground varied from 34i/^ to 78 feet, measured; and 24 were 60 feet 

 or over. There were 16 sets of three, but no larger sets. S. F. 

 Rathbun tells me that he has taken a set of four in central New 

 York, and about half of Dr. Ralph's sets were fours. 



The largest nest I have heard of was found by Verdi Burtch 

 (1911) near Branchport, N. Y. ; it was placed in a big pine tree and 

 measured 3 by 4 feet in diameter. He says : "My first set from these 

 woods was taken March 31, 1890 (20 years ago) and there has been 

 a nest in there or the adjacent woods nearly every year since that 

 time." A. D. DuBois mentions, in his notes, a nest found near 

 Ithaca, N. Y., that was 80 or 90 feet from the ground in a big pine 

 tree. He also sent me notes on three nests found in Sangamon 

 County, 111. One was 50 feet from the ground "in the uppermost 

 main crotch of an elm tree"; another was at the same height in a 

 white oak; and the third was in the top of a big sycamore. 



Throughout the greater part of its range the red-tailed hawk 

 seems to be more constant in its attachment to its nesting site than 

 we have found it in New England; it often returns year after year 

 to the same patch of woods. As it usually selects the tallest tree 

 it can find the nest is often at a great height, even over 90 feet from 

 the ground. It does not seem to be at all particular as to the choice 

 of a tree, except as to size; various pines, oaks, maples, hickories, 

 elms, sycamores, and poplars have been used. Small patches of 

 heavy tall timber are preferred, and the nest is usually on or near the 

 edge so that the bird can have a good outlook, and nests are often 

 built in more or less isolated trees in open situations. I believe that 

 the birds prefer to build a new nest each year, but they sometimes use 

 tlie same nest for consecutive years, though oftener they return to it 

 after an interval of a year or two. Lewis O. Shelley writes to me 



