THE WILSON QUARTERLY. 53 



muscles of the flesh seemed to be fairly woven into the skin, 

 so that it must be cut awav very carefully at every point. 



The best find of the day was the nest of the Mexican Gos- 

 haAvk. It was some 25 feet high in an old thick-branched 

 mesquite. I shot the female as she left the nest which was 

 another ver} rare specimen, and then tried to persuade my 

 driver to go up to the nest ; but he wasn't a climber, and 

 '" couldn't see it " in the light I did, so had to do it myself. 

 These trees have very stiff, wiry branches, covered with 

 thorns, and the job I had getting to that nest I do not like to 

 repeat often, though I would go through almost anything 

 for another set of as rare eggs. The nest held three eggs 

 entirely fresh, and about the size of those of the Broad- 

 winged Hawk. They are vv^hite, slightly nest stained, 

 and are obscurely marked with reddish-brown. 



We took our lunch on the river bank under some largf 

 cotton Woods, stopping- at timps for n shot at a warbler, to 

 listen to some distant or to watch some of the 



water birds al'-''^'-' +'>' w American Egret and a 



flock of Whit . but too far away to shoot. 



At length we turn ■ -. unce more toward Gila Bend, 



shooting and hunt'" ■' <be way ; but as it would be 



too much of a re^' 'be it, I will relate but one 



more incident of the dnj . \Vc were well on our way back, 

 and I was following up an cn^royo, with a surface of broken 

 lava, and a growth of low trees and bushes with an occa- 

 sional cactus, from which the woodpeckers would fly at my 

 approach. My driver was following along the ridge outside 

 so as to keep me in sight. Was having poor success with 

 birds, when all at once came the sharp, buzzing alarm, or 

 challenge of a monster rattlesnake. His head was towards 

 me, raised a foot high, aiid he showed no disposition to try 

 to get away. I tried to frighten him ; but he would not 

 scare, and watching every motion seemed to defy me to 

 come nearer. A charge of shot quieted liim, when I found 

 that he was five feet and seven inches long and as large as 

 a man's arm. Within five rods of this place T killed two 

 more and heard three or four others in the bushes. I began 



