256 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



dense swamp, three hundred yards from the lake. The male bird would sit by 

 the hour in a big cypress tree near the mouth of Istokpoga Creek, evidently 

 using this tree as a lookout perch. Mr. Howell patiently watched this bird on 

 a number of occasions, and finally, about five o'clock, on the evening of the 

 29th the Hawk left his perch, circled upward a couple of times and dived into 

 the swamp about one hundred yards from the lookout tree. A careful search 

 of the swamp, in the direction taken by the bird, resulted in locating a nest 

 in the top of a tall, slender magnolia, and on rapping the tree the female 

 flushed from the nest [pl- 71]. 



The following day, March 30, I took a set of two nearly fresh eggs from this 

 nest, which was in a swamp magnolia up fifty-eight feet from the ground. The 

 tree was one foot in diameter at the base and very heavily overgrown with 

 poison ivy, making the ascent rather difficult. It stood in a dense jungle of 

 small trees and undergrowth, with water and mud knee deep. * * * 



The nest was two feet in diameter and nearly a foot in height and was very 

 large for the size of the bird. It was an entirely new nest. In a nearby tree 

 was another nest, similar to this one, which may have been used by the pair 

 in a previous season. The occupied nest was placed in the topmost part of 

 the tree in a three-pronged fork among the heavy vines, and just eight feet 

 below the highest leaf. The tree was only two inches in diameter at the nest, 

 which was built entirely of cypress twigs, freshly broken off, with a small 

 amount of moss and lichens remaining on them. It was lined with finer 

 sticks of the cypress tree, dry magnolia leaves, and a few sprays of green 

 cypress. 



He also quotes the following data referring to a single fresh egg 

 taken by Dr. W. L. Kalph at San Mateo, Fla., on April 4, 1S93: 

 "Nest in a very dense cypress swamp about half a mile from Dunns 

 Creek and about the same distance from pine woods. It is in the top 

 of an immense cypress tree, about tAventy feet from the trunk at the 

 end of the largest limb, 95 feet from the ground (measured). Male 

 killed was dark phase — female light. Nest composed of small sticks 

 and Spanish moss thinly lined with leaf-covered cypress twigs; it 

 was flat without much of a hollow and placed in front of and con- 

 nected with a former one." 



Donald J. Nicholson gave him the following unpublished notes 

 on two nests that he found : 



April 12, 1910, Istokpoga Lake, Fla. Nest on extreme outermost branches of 

 a large cypress limb overhanging Istokpoga Creek ; 30 feet above water ; two 

 eggs heavily incubated. Nest of sticks and moss, lined with green oak and 

 gum leaves and a plentiful supply of green cypress boughs. April 12, 1910, 

 Istokpoga Lake (south of creek). Nest in a tall slender cypress among the 

 uppermost branches of the top, about 50 feet up. Composed of cypress twigs 

 and moss, lined with leaves and moss. Contained two young birds about a 

 week old in white down. Only one parent seen, which was of an entire 

 sooty black cast and had a white beak and light yellow claws. While in the 

 tree it screamed the entire time, sometimes circling in the air or sitting in a 

 nearby tree. Heard screaming at night in moonlight. 



Eggs. — The short-tailed hawk lays one to three eggs, regularly 

 two. In shape they are nearly oval or short-ovate ; the shell is finely 



