THE MARSH HAWK 



495 



lier "fijr keeps"; but. after all. it is well enough to reniiinl her now and then 

 that he is a verv good fellow, — for she is a size larger than he and a little 

 exacting in matters of ci>urtesy. 



Not onl}- are the Marsh Hawks wedded for life, but the male is very 

 much devoted to his family. He assists in nest-building, shares the duty of 

 incubation, and is assiduous in proxiding for his brooding mate. A nesting 

 site is selected about the middle of April, custontarily in the tall grass adjoin- 



Pholo by the Author. 

 Taken in Douglas C ount\. 



XKST .WD EGCS OF 



THE Jl.VUSn n.'\WK. 



ing a swamp, altho latterl}- alfalfa fields have come to be great favorites. H 

 the ground is wet, sticks are first laid d(iwn: but otherwise onlv grass, dead 

 leaves, and weed-stems, with a little hair and moss or feathers, are used to 

 build up a low platform, broatl and slightly hollowed on top. Here four or 

 five eggs, pale blue and commonh- unmarked, are laid : but six is not unusual, 

 and two sets of eight are on record, of which one is from this State. In 

 Yakima Cciunty I C)nce found a nest on the ground in a little opening of an 

 aspen grove, the birds having probably retired to the woods to avoid the winds 

 pre\-alent at that season. 



