28 



THE OSPEEY. 



teiial. Bv some it has been flaiuied tliat the binls 

 break oil"' SQiall twigs with tlieir leet, wliile 

 other ol)S rvers assert that Uie vixts are biuUen 

 oil \M.li llie l)ill, ill buUi instances Hlnle tlie bird is 

 in rapiil luotioii. My observalioBScontirm thelalter 

 cuiitenlion. 



Just baik of my pirden stamls an ohl dead peaeli 

 tree. It is peiliaVs hiteen leet high, has numerous 



M, braiielus and twigs, and, as it has been dead 



1. 1 >. me years, llie twigs are mmh decayed and 

 e.l^,ly oroken oti'. My attention was attracted to a 

 number ot Swifts Hying back and forth among tlie 

 branches, and I noticed that the liranches, as out- 

 lineil against tile blueskj beyoml, vibrated violently 

 after each |iahsage. It apparently required several 

 attempts before the birds were successful, when they 

 flew away. 



1 now concealed myself under a low tree about ten 

 fret from the base of tlie dead peach tree, and was 

 therefore not over twenty feet trom any branch of 

 it. After waiting peihaps five minutes the birds 

 leturned and at once began circling aliout the tree. 

 A Swift would retire for a distance of Ufiy or one 

 hundred yards, then come toward the tree at a 

 rather slow rate, sailing without moving tbe wings 

 for the last twenty or thirty feet, and at a slight de- 

 cline, until within five feet of the tree, then tuin 

 upward, which had the effect of retarding the mo- 

 mentum, at this instant grasping a twig in the bill 

 and giving a number of rapid beats of the wings, 

 which carried the bird ihrough the branches anil 

 outside the tree. These tactics were rei)eated agam 

 and again, or until a twig was secured. Occasional'y 

 the Swihs Hew very lai.idly by the tips of branches, 

 not slowing up in any perceptible degree, but trying 

 to grasp at a Ijrauch as they jias-^ed. 1 itistinctly 

 heard the snap of the bill as liiey passed uii-suc- 

 cessfully in their flight. They did not appear to 

 select a particular twig and fly repeate<lly at it, but 

 simply tlew back and forth among the liranchis, 

 try mg the one nearest at hand at tUe instant, and 

 either securing it or pa.ssing on to return from the 

 opposite side. At one time there were three Swifts 

 flying at the tree at the same time, and, as nearly I 

 could make out, it took from two to five or si.'c passes 

 before they were successful .—F. H. Knowlton, 

 Uiiml, Md., June 1, JS9S. 



Westbrn Goshawk i.n Colorado.— The western 

 form of the well-known Asliir (itiioijiilUis, is, sofaras 

 our present knowledge goes, a rare visitor in Coloi- 

 aoo. Prof. \V. W. Cooke, in his Birds of Colorado, 

 speaks of it as "rare, if not accidental," and adds: 

 "The only certain record of the we.-tei n form is that of 

 Prof. Wni. Osburn, who writes: 'A male of this 

 species was captured at Atkms, Latimer County, 

 February 2li, ISHH, and a female at the same place 

 March 5 (Science, xxii, IS'.l.'J, 2IU ).' " We are 

 now able to rejiort another capture, this time on the 

 western slope of the Continental Divide. 



In company with L. B. Uilmore, I had been 

 spending the winter at Sweetwater Lake, Garfield 

 County— altitude about 8,000 feet— an excellent 

 region for ornithological work. On Februaiy 0, my 

 brother saw two strange Hawks feeding on the car- 

 cass of a Willi cat which had been thrown about fifty 

 yards back of the cabin. We at once made an 

 ■Bttempt to get them, but were unsuccessful. Three 

 days later, however, Mr. J. T. Jleirer secured one, 

 which proved to be a male; a careful examination 

 of the specimen led to the conclusion that it was a 

 Goshawk of the variety utrUiliiltis. I at once wrote 

 Prof. Cooke of the capture and later sent him the 



skin, wliich he forwarded to the Smith.'onian Insti- 

 tu'ion, where it was identified as the Westein Gos 

 hawk. On IVliruary 28 we saw another of the same 

 sjiecies on the White Kiver Phtteau, at about it.oUO 

 feet altitude; this was nearly five miles from the 

 cabin where the pair was first observed. Again, 

 early in March, Mr. Meirer reported another ntar 

 the cabin. 



Of course one can only conjecture as to llie prob- 

 aliility of these two being one and the >anie bird — 

 the coniiiamon of the one taken here February 12. 

 Perhaps time and further oh.servation may prove 

 the Western Goshawk to be a frequent winter visi- 

 tor in Western Coiorado. — L D. Gilmoke, Jhilifirn, 

 Vol. 



Nest of Mexican Cutthroat. — In a recent pa- 

 per on birds observed in Mexico, Mr. F. M. Chap- 

 man writes as follows: "FUiljQisaris aghiiic Jjifr. — 

 Common about the borders of woods, fhey were 

 mateil and nest-buiiding as early as April 3, and 



>■ 



were now noisy and active, their harsh, chattering 

 notes, as they chased one another about the tree- 



