184 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-Ko. 12 



ed aud spotted with bay and Uivender-graj'. 

 (The latter color is confined to the wreaths, 

 which are near the larger ends.) These are 

 the largest eggs in the series, and are indeed 

 quite phenomenal for this species : .77 x .57 ; 

 .76X.57; .76x.56; .74x.56; .75 x .56. 



Albinos. 



BY GEO. G. CANTWELL, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 



It has been my good fortune to secure during 

 the last season several birds tliat were partially 

 subject to this strange feature. 



On Ajiril 13th I collected a $ Kusty Grackle 

 with two large patches of white on its breast, 

 one is in the form of a half circle about three- 

 fourths of an inch long, by one-fourth of an 

 inch broad, and is situated on the lower part of 

 the throat in the form of a beautiful necktie. 

 The other patch is more or less round, about 

 an inch wide, and is situated on the light breast 

 where the bend of the wing nestles in the 

 feathers, so when the wings are folded these 

 white feathers lay over it. 



I secured it more by luck than anything else. 

 I was out for a stroll with a friend who had a 

 small caliber rifle with him ; he wanted to get 

 some kind of a bird that would skin easy, as he 

 was not very apt in that line, so I pointed him 

 out a black bird in a tree near by aud told him 

 that would make an easy specimen, aud asked 

 him to let me try ray skill at shooting, which he 

 did, and I luckily killed it, which proved to be 

 my first Albino bird. 



Another was a Fox-colored .Sparrow collected 

 April 18, having the two first wing quills, and 

 the primary coverts of the left wing clear 

 white, otherwise the specimen was normal. It 

 was a $ also. 



I also secured on Slay 3, a <J Cow Bunting 

 with a light yellowish patch on the right side 

 of the neck about the size of a dime. 



But the best specimen of an Albino that has 

 ever come to my notice, is to be seen in the 

 window of Mr. H. Krueger's gun store of this 

 city, in the shape of an almost pure Albino 

 Mallard which was killed by H. Rippe on Oct. 

 last near this place. 



The general color is a pure snow white with 

 the exception of a few traces of brown on the 

 breast, and light gray marking on the back, the 

 top and sides of head are the normal color of a 

 $ Mallard, the wings show slight greenish 

 reflections in the proper place, the tail is also 

 slightly mottled with dark. 1 was unable to 

 fiud out the sex, but think it is a female. 



Nesting of the Broad-winged Hawk 

 in Chester County, Penn. 



BY FRANK L. BURNS, BERWYN, PENN. 



Although much has been written in regard 

 to the nesting of the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo 

 peitnsylraiiicus) there seems to be a general 

 demand for more information on the subject. 

 As has alreadj' been remarked by a writer to 

 the O. & O. " the habits of a bird vary greatly 

 in dift'erent localities." This Hawk is a rare 

 summer resident, rarely found breeding in this 

 County. Mr. T. H. Jackson noted three well 

 authenticated sets taken there during the past 

 thirteen years, of one, two and three eggs (Vol. 

 XII, No. 7, O. & O.) I would add a set of four 

 taken by Mr. Wayne Baugh, of Tredyft'rin 

 Township, in 1884. This is probably the finest 

 clutch of this species ever taken in the county. 



On the 4th of May of the present year while 

 walking along an old cartroad, which ran 

 through a belt of chestnut timber, a Hawk flew 

 from an old Crow's nest about twentj' yards 

 ahead, and perched on a tree at no great dis- 

 tance. Not having my climbers along I re- 

 turned in the evening. Now I felt dubious about 

 this nest; I remembered climbing to it one hot 

 day two years ago, and on reaching it (accom- 

 panied by a small ami}' of mosquitoes) I was 

 disgusted to find it empty, and at the touch, 

 clouds of dust filled my eyes and settled on my 

 perspiring face and neck. However I climbed 

 once more, and was pleased to find one richly 

 marked egg. It would be well to remark here, 

 that when about half way up 1 heard a mourn- 

 ful half whistle, half whine, which was repeated 

 at regular intervals until I dccended. At first 

 I thought it must be a Swallow, but as it was 

 repeated, and remembering certain notes on the 

 Broad-winged Hawk in Vol. XIII, No. 2, 

 O. & 0., I concluded I had found the nest of 

 that species. 



On the 7th the nest contained two eggs, the 

 female flushed at my approach. On the 11th 

 the female was shot as she left the nest, and 

 the three eggs secured. At this the final climb, 

 the male betrayed his presence in a near-l)y tree 

 (for the fiist time) by the snapping of his beak 

 (which sounded similar to the drumming of a 

 Downy Woodpecker) but kept well hidden. 

 The nesting place was surrounded from South 

 to Northeast by at least a quarter of a mile of 

 Chestnut growth, of from twenty to seventy 

 feet in height; while the nearest opening and 

 pasture field on the east, was only sixty yards 



