374 Kansas Academy of Science. 



the nesting- tree, I set up a rest made from a dead dogwood tree on 

 which to place the nest, and on July 16 pitched my tent. On July 

 17, in the afternoon, my nephew, Charles Hammond, climbed to 

 the nest as shown in photograph No. 1, lowered the three little 

 birds in a basket, and after securely tying up the nest with stout 

 cord succeeded in lowering it also. The nest was placed in the 

 support prepared for it and the little birds were put back into the 

 nest as shown in No. 2. The nest and tent were then not disturbed 



No. 2. Young hawks when nest was moved. 



or visited until on the morning of the 19th, at which time I arrived 

 at the nest and found everything in good condition. The old birds 

 evidently had had no difficulty in finding their young and had not 

 hesitated to feed and care for them in their new situation. The 

 old birds were absent foraging when I arrived at the nest, so that I 

 had ample time to get all in readiness for work long before the 

 mother bird returned with food. When she did return she came 

 without the least hesitation directly to the nest, bearing in her 

 talons a meadow-lark from which she had previously stripped every 

 vestige of feathers. Standing upon the edge of the nest, with her 

 prey firmly held in one foot, she began at once to tear it to pieces 

 with her beak, holding out to her little ones the ^mailer and more 

 choice portions and devouring the coarser parts herself. The little 

 hawks as they seized the food from the beak of their parent kept 

 up a low happy musical chatter that to me seemed ill-suited to the 

 gruesome meal they were making. 



While this was going on I was busy inside the tent exposing 

 plate after plate in an efPort to profit by this long-sought opportu- 



