AMERICAN OSPREY 357 



able story of a pair of ospreys that had a nest on the chimney of a 

 vacant house. A new family moved in, removed the nest, and shot 

 one of the birds. The survivor secured a new mate and rebuilt the 

 nest. By the time that the birds were at last driven away, after 

 repeated attempts to rebuild the nest, the chimney was found to be 

 completely filled with rubbish. I once saw a nest on an electric- 

 light transformer to which a white flag was attached. Several nests 

 have been on unused windmill towers. Mr. Hathaway (1905) says: 

 "One of the most unique situations that has come to my attention is 

 a nest in Portsmouth, built on an old windmill, which has had the 

 'floats' blown off, and the nest is so placed that, when the rudder 

 turns, the sitting bird, on her nest, swings round and round with 

 every breeze." 



In our territory I have never seen a nest on the ground. The 

 height above ground has varied from 10 or 15 feet, in cedars, locusts, 

 or on poles, to 50 or 60 feet, in tall pines or elms; but most of the 

 nests have been under 40 feet. The nests vary greatly in size; nests 

 on artificial supports are usually very flat, from a few inches to a 

 foot high, and they are not built up from year to year, as the tree 

 nests are; the latter often increase to enormous size until they fall 

 or break down the tree; the tallest one I have seen was built up to 

 a height of 10 feet before the tree and all collapsed. 



None of my earliest nests are still in existence. One nest that I 

 first saw in 1891 was still occupied in 1935; it is in a locust, now 

 dead. There are two others that I have recorded as occupied for 

 41 years, one in an elm and one in a locust. Another, still occupied 

 in 1935, has been occupied for about 45 years, according to an inter- 

 ested neighbor; this is artificially supported in a locust close to a 

 much-traveled road. A few other nests have lasted for 30 years or 

 more, but most of them last for much shorter periods. Mr. Hatha- 

 way (1905) refers to a nest in this territory that has been used 

 annually since "about 1780, and was until recently still occupied" by 

 successive pairs of birds. 



The foregoing remarks all refer to nesting habits in Massachu- 

 setts and Khode Island. C. S. Allen (1892) describes some interest- 

 ing nests on Plum Island, as follows: 



The first Fish Hawk's nest shown to me by Mr. Jerome was fairly in his 

 dooryard, close by his front gate, and only about fifty yards from his house. 

 It was placed upon an old pile of fence rails, rotted to black mould in the 

 center, but kept up by the yearly addition of fresh rails. Mr. .Jerome said that 

 to his knowledge this nest had been occupied every year for forty years. It 

 likewise had been added to yearly until its bulk of sticks, sods, cow dung, 

 decayed wood, seaweed, etc., would amount to at least three carloads, in addi- 

 tion to what had rotted and fallen to the ground. The nest was only seven or 

 eight feet from the ground, so that by stepping on a projecting rail I could 

 readily see the three beautiful spotted eggs within, which I promised not to 



