MEXICAN GOSHAWK 265 



common in "the timber in the Rillitto Creek bottom near Tucson" 

 and says that Otho C. Poling found them "in a deep wooded cailon" 

 in tlie Huachuca Mountains, where he was camped "among some thick 

 spruce and sycamore woods." He says further : "It seems to be found 

 only in the vicinity of water courses, and not, like many of the other 

 Raptores, on the dry and comparatively barren desert-like plains." 



Courtship. — Major Bendire (1892) observed a flight maneuver in 

 April, which was probably a courtship activity, he writes: 



From that time on not a day passed without my seeing two or three pairs 

 of these handsome little Goshawks (which were readily recognized by their 

 light color) engaged in sailing gracefully over the tree tops, now sportively 

 chasing each other, or again circling around, the female closely followed by the 

 male, uttering at the same time a very peculiar piping note, which reminded 

 me of that given by the Long-billed Curlew in the early spring (while hovering 

 in the air in the manner of a Sparrow Hawk), rather than the shrill cries or 

 screams usually uttered by birds of prey. To my ear, there was something 

 decidedly flute-like about these notes. After they were paired they became more 

 silent. 



Nesting. — In the mesquite forest, referred to above, we found, on 

 May 19 and 20, 1922, three nests of the Mexican goshawk. The first 

 nest was 40 feet from the ground in a large mesquite; we were at- 

 tracted to the spot by the cries of one of the birds, and when we 

 rapped the tree the incubating bird flew off ; both birds circled about 

 in the vicinity but did not come very near; it was a small nest 

 made of sticks and branches of mistletoe, lined with a few green 

 leaves of mesquite; it held three eggs. We found another nest later 

 in the day that was fully 60 feet up in a giant hackberry tree, the 

 largest of a group of big trees. The female was standing on the nest 

 when we first saw it, and the male soon flew up and alighted in the 

 next tree; I shot both birds. The nest was made of sticks and was 

 lined with green leaves, apparently plucked within reach from the 

 nest; it measured about 20 inches in outside and 10 inches in inside 

 diameter and contained three fresh eggs. The third nest was found 

 the next day, 30 feet up near the end of a branch in a large mesquite ; 

 it was made of sticks and lined with green tAvigs and leaves of elder; 

 it also held three eggs. Near it was an Arizona cardinal's nest with 

 young and a white-winged dove's nest with eggs (pis. 72 and 73). 



Major Bendire (1892) writes: 



About the last week in April several pairs had selected their nesting sites 

 within a radius of 10 miles from my camp, and commenced building. All the 

 nests found by me, four in number, were placed in cottonwood trees, usually 

 the largest to be found in the vicinity, and as near their tops as they could 

 be placed with security. 



The first nest was obtained on May 17, and the male, who was sitting on a 

 limb close by, was shot. This nest was located in the topmost branches of a 

 large cottonwood tree near the laguna. the sink of the Santa Cruz River, not 

 83561—37- 18 



