84 



THE OSPREY. 



tirely with dry straw. The two eggs were fresh 

 and are both heavily splashed with reddish brown 

 over the entire egg. The set measures 3.03x2.30 and 

 3.04x2.27 inches. 



March 30 again found me in the field in quest of 

 some nests of Western Red-tailed Hawks I had 

 located earlier in the season. After covering much 

 territory I collected three sets of two, three and four 

 eggs respectively, without incident. It was while 

 upon this trip that I made an interesting discovery. 

 My route took me by an Eagle's nest, from which 

 Mr. Taylor had taken a set of two eggs on February 

 23, and as I approached the locality from over a hill, 

 I noticed an Eagle soaring about the canyon. Turn- 

 ing toward the nest I was surprised to see an Eagle 

 fly off — indicating eggs. Upon climbing to the nest 

 two eggs were found, and I had learned that the 

 Golden Eagle will lay a second time in the same 

 season, after being robbed ! Among collectors in the 

 west I believe it has generally been considered that 

 the Eagle lays but once, and Major Bendire in his 

 ' Life Histories' makes no mention of possible second 

 layings. Both birds circled over the canyon solicit- 

 ously, one alighting in an oak while the other in 

 great circles mounted the steep hillside and alighted 

 on its summit, silhouetted against the fleecy pink 

 clouds of the early morning. Both would alternately 

 utter their 'call.' The nest was 5x4 feet, and very 

 large, being composed of sticks, rubbish, roots and 

 mustard stalks, and lined with green oak leaves, 

 moss and straw. A decayed squirrel lay on the edge 

 of the nest, which was 30 feet up in a live oak on a 

 hillside. The eggs of this set were small and some- 

 what resembled the first laying taken by Mr. Taylor, 

 being delicately marked with lavender and subdued 

 brown, giving a somewhat pink appearance. The 

 eggs measured 2.88x2.26 and 2.89x2.25 inches. One 

 was fresh, the other slightly incubated, and the time 

 between the laying of the two sets was about five 

 weeks. 



During the day I visited the Eagle's nest from 

 which I had taken a set early on the morning of 

 March 7, and the second-laying theory was strength- 

 ened by the presence of the eagle on the nest. She 

 flew off upon my approach and after a hard climb 

 through the thick scrubby limbs I reached the 

 nest and found it had been re-lined and held one 

 exquisite egg. This I left and on April 3d Mr Tay- 

 lor kindly collected the set for me. It is one of the 

 handsomest clutches I have seen, consisting of two 

 eggs. The eggs measure 2.92x2.39 and 3.05x2.34, 

 which are smaller than the first laying of March 7th, 

 which measured 3.10x2.46 and 3.06x2.38. One egg 

 of this set has a white ground and is boldly blotched 

 on one side and over the small end with bright 

 reddish and umber brown while in the other the 

 ground is obscured and the entire egg is beautifully 

 washed and suffused with a rich pinkish-brown, 



verging into heavy cloudings about the large end. 

 This coloration seems to be seldom met with, and 

 must be seen to be appreciated. 



Early in the season I had come upon a pair of 

 White-tailed Kites in a secluded region and had not 

 had an opportunity to search for their nest until 

 April II. When I reached the field early in the 

 morning no birds were about, but I had concluded 

 that the nest was probably in a certain live-oak and 

 upon investigation could see a small dark spot among 

 the foliage, hardly large enough to attract attention 

 from the ground, had I not known there was a nest. 

 Throwing rocks at the nest had no eftect, as is often 

 the case when the bird is setting, but upon climbing 

 the tree the Kite glided off when I was six feet below 

 the nest and was quickly joined by her mate, who had 

 up to this time seemingly remained away from the 

 vicinity of the nest. The nest was 42 feet from the 

 ground in the top of an oak, made of small oak twigs 

 and sparingly lined with grass, and held four eggs 

 almost fresh. 



By this time the day had "waxed warm" and the 

 heated hills were anything but inviting for a long 

 tramp, but taking my camera I headed for the new- 

 Eagle's nest I had found on March 7, eager to learn 

 if the birds had deposited a second set of eggs. 

 Reaching a hill I could see the nest and discern the 

 Eagle upon it. When I had approached to within 50 

 yards of the tree the great bird rose up as if to fly, 

 so I sat down and after a short time she shook her 

 wings and settled down again. On closer approach 

 she flew from the nest and was soon lost to sight 

 behind the many hills. The nest had not been re- 

 lined and the two eggs showed incubation of about one 

 week. The two eggs do not resemble the first lay- 

 ing, one being of a creamy ground color, marbled 

 evenly all over with rusty brown and bright lilac, 

 while the other is lightly dotted with specks of 

 reddish-brown, and a very few small blotches. The 

 eggs measure 2.86x2.27 and 3.11x2.33 inches from 

 which it will be seen that one egg is extremely long. 



I secured a photograph of the nest and eggs, before 

 disturbing them, by lodging the camera in a crotch 

 near the top of the tree, and the results are herewith 

 presented. From my observations it would seem 

 that the birds laid their second sets about one month 

 after the first laying was taken, and in some cases 

 the first sets were more heavily marked than the 

 second sets and r/iv versa, while the measurements 

 varied also. It would be interesting to learn if the 

 laying of second sets by the larger birds of prey is 

 usual, and it would seem that it is a matter of un- 

 certainty, for Mr. R. H. Beck who has collected sets 

 of the Golden Eagle in the eastern mountains of 

 Santa Clara County, visited several nests this year a 

 month or more after he had collected sets from them 

 but he found none of the nests in use a second time, 

 and apparently the birds had no intentions of supply- 

 ing second sets. 



