IHE OO LOG 1ST. 



this species with three almost fresh 

 eggs on Aug. 17th, 1893. Is n<>t that 

 unusually late? 



Wm. Wake, 

 Kuoxville, Teiin. 



The Marph Hawk and lo's Eggs. 



One nioi-niiig in June a tarnier stood 

 in his yard with a loaded gun in liis 

 hands watching a ])aii of Buteos lazily 

 eireling overhead While thus watch- 

 ing, a Marsh Hawk came skimming 

 over the wall and picking up a chicken 

 was away witn it's quarry before the 

 slow, rustic batter\- in die farmers 

 hands could he brought to bear on it. 

 It is for such occasional forages, that 

 this useful Harrier is shot by the aver- 

 age farmer. But fortunately there are 

 some farhiers who can and do appreci- 

 ate the usefulness of this Hawk. He 

 destroys those pests of the farmer, the 

 mole, go (her. Tats, mice and a great 

 number of snakes. Whence^ he receives 

 liis various epithets; as Mouser, Snake 

 Hawk and Mole Hawk. After or (hir- 

 ing such a life of usefulness, should this 

 bird l)e hunted, shot and killed? 



It plainly shows the ignorance and 

 stupidity of the average farmer. In 

 spring the country boy finds its nest 

 and marks the spot. He waits until 

 the young are hatched and then jno- 

 ceeds to wring their necks. 



The nest of the Marsli Hawk is gen- 

 erally a bulky alVair, anywhere from an 

 inch to a foot high, and from al)out a 

 foot wide to two feet. Some times it 

 l)uilds no nest at all but simply depos- 

 its its eggs in some small depression in 

 dry sphagnum moss or some .-■imilar 

 substance. In such cases the bird 

 ituilds no nest for the purpo.se of better 

 concealing h(;r eggs. On the contrary 

 some of the nests are extremely large. 

 They are sometimes built large; f(tr the 

 i-eason being always built in a swami)y 

 I)lace they are in danger of being sub- 

 merged by the water and are therefon; 

 Ijuilt large for the purpose of avoiding 



this danger, but the general cause of 

 these large nests are the results of nest- 

 ing in the same spot for a series of 

 years, each year the bird adding more 

 to the nest in repairing it for use. 



The usual number of eggs in a set of 

 the Marsh Hawk is three, sometimes 

 four or live and but rarely two. When 

 first laid their color is a greenish blue, 

 fading before the clutch is complete to 

 dirty white which color is given by the 

 closest 0()logists as the true color of the 

 eggs. Sometimes the eggs are marked 

 over with a dark chocolate color, but 

 commonly are hot. The choicest sets 

 of eggs of the collector are those that 

 are marked. 



Extreme sets are sometimes found: a.s^ 

 many as seven in a nest. More than 

 that have been reported before, but the 

 the cases are improbable. Many facts- 

 tend to show also that tlie two birds, 

 (Marsh H iwk) which lay marked eggs 

 one season will lay marked eggs every 

 season; and those that la}' plain or un- 

 marked eggs one season will ever after 

 lay plain eggs. 



There are facts also which go to prove 

 that the two birds that lay a certain 

 size anil shape egg in one season will 

 lay the same shaped and same .size egg 

 all other seasons. Many authorities 

 iloubt that still and i. has never been 

 l)roven yet. 



The Marsli Hawk is i)criiai)S the most 

 noiseless of our breeding rapaciic. The 

 cry made by some of them has an inti- 

 mation of the Fish Hawk, but in gen»'ral 

 the cry approaches more nearly tiiat ()f 

 Cooper's Hawk. 



To those who have only seen and 

 known the subject of this sketch, as the 

 skimmer of the nu-adow.-*, Moating Tind 

 i|uartcring spaniel like over bushy low- 

 lands he will hardly seem lik«( a being 

 of the; upper aii . Yet, he has his aspir- 

 ations, .-IS we may si'c; the females, ■•liter 

 iieing IIusIhmI and .-liot at. would be 

 Joined by the male and hang fur hours 

 far ovpihead, mtjre specks in th.) sky. 

 seemingly abov'j the loftiest flights of 

 the Buteos. 



