THE OOLUGIST. 



131) 



The commonest of our Hawks, arrives 

 iu the latter part of March. It is a - 

 beautiful and daring bird and quite 

 well known to the country people. He 

 is not such a free-booter as some would 

 imagine, although I will admit he loves 

 ''chicken". Like the darkey his mouth 

 waters when he hears the cackle of a 



I hen. He also feeds greatly on small 

 birds, squirrels and ra »bits. He may 

 often be seen sailing along close to the 

 ground, eagerlj' lookiu •■ for his prey. 

 When one is spied he quickens his 



; flight until almo.st upon it. Then like 

 an arrow he swoops down and bears it 

 away. It is remarkable how one of 

 these birds can sail so swiftly among 

 the heavy timber and never strike 

 against some tree trunk. 



One day while out hunting I saw a 



>" Cooper's hovering over Florence Lake, 

 and thinking it rather strange conclud- 

 ed to watch hiin,. After twenty niia- 

 ntos had lapsed he slowly began to de- 

 •cnd until within ten yards of a patch 

 of rushes. I then arose and fired at 

 him but missed. Just then a Mallard 

 flew up from the si)ot where he was 

 watching, but Cooper's did not give 

 chase for he concluded to get out of 

 gun range. I firmly believe he was 



' watching the duck 



( The nest of Coopei^'s is geneially 



! situated very high up, and composed of 

 small twigs. Crows' nests are often oc- 

 1 II pied. A pair nested in the same 

 iiist two years near Scotland. 



Laying commences about the second 

 week in May, sometimes the first. The 

 t'ggs are of a pale bluish or greenish- 

 white, fi'equently spotted with pale 

 liiownish red. The numl)er in a set is 

 irom four to six. 



American Goshawk, Arripihr arti- 

 ■ iipi/lus. This large and l)oautiful hawk 

 is only a winter visitor to our wood. 



Rkd-tailed Hawk, But eo boreal is^. 

 The Red-tailed Buzzard is a very com- 

 mon breeder in our woods. Like 

 ''ooperi it is also a lover of the barn- 



yard friends, but lacks the nerve of his 

 little cousin.. Here they feed princi- 

 pally upon- squirrels, gophers, chip- 

 munks and small birds. The remains 

 of the rodents are genei'ally found in 

 the nests 



The nests ai'e situated iu very tall 

 trees and composed of sticks, twigs 

 and bark, lined with Ixirk. The only 

 feathers found in the nest are off the 

 breast of the bird. 



L. Skow took a very tine set of these 

 eggs, April 7, 1893 near Scotland, Neb., 

 four miles north of Omaha. 



Kridek's Hawk, Buleo borealis. Ac- 

 cidental visitor; very rare. Took a 

 fine specimen near Florence, Neb., 

 three miles north of On)aha. 



WEgTERX Red-tail, Buico borealis 

 cnlurus. Accidental visitor; have only 

 seen one since 1890. 



Red-shouldered Hawk, Butco line- 

 atu.t. This Hawk is largely distributed 

 over the state and is abundant in win- 

 ter. A great manj' call it "Chicken 

 Hawk," but it seldom visits the barn 

 yard. Its food is usually frogs, rats, 

 mice and sometimes small snakes. 



The nesting of the Red-shoulilered is 

 almost the same as the Red- tail, but 

 here it seems to like small woods. The 

 ..umber of eggs deposited is three or 

 four, sometimes only two. The back- 

 ground is bluish or yellowish-white; 

 sometimes brownish, spotted and 

 blotched irregularly vTith many shades 

 of reddish-brown. A set in my col- 

 lection is exceedingly heavily marked 

 with dark brown. 



Swain>on's Hawk, linlcn awainffojii. 

 This beautiful l)ir(l may also be classed 

 as a common breeder here. I have 

 never heard of this species visiting the 

 barn yaids. They feed principally up- 

 on gophers, grasshojjpers, mi«-e and 

 large black crickcl.s. The nests of this 

 si)ecies are situated in trees, from 30 t«> 

 50 feet from the ground. Old nests of 

 Hawks and Crows are also filled up. 



A set of eggs taken April '^0, 1891 



