24 



THE OOLOGIST. 



nest which the birds tixed over last 

 week. 



The eggs were typical. This set was 

 secondary; the first being the first set 

 ■of the season. In going up the Salado 

 'bottom, we had the inestimable pleasure 

 •of seeing a Florida Barred Owl leave a 

 liollow stump, which was about fifteen 

 feet tall. The hollow was only a foot 

 deep and contained one fresh egg. In 

 returning home we went by the "bee- 

 tree" nest and found two beautiful eggs 

 awaiting us. 



This was also a secondary set. The 

 ground color was nearly white, spotted, 

 blotched and clouded with many rich 

 shades of brown. 



About the middle of April, the same 

 pair went and fixed over an old nest 

 not far away, and laid two more eggs. 

 One of these was simply exquisite. The 

 ground color was almost pure white, 

 spotted and blotched with bright red. 



The other egg was typical. The size 

 was very small, not more than 2.00 x 

 1.50. 



As to the first nest which I mentioned 

 of visitinn; on the 1st of March, the 

 birds hung around for nearly a month 

 and then left. 



They are persistent layers and will 

 deposite as many as four sets in a sea- 

 son. 



In "94, Norton took first set on March 

 2d, but last year, it was the middle of 

 April before he found an egg. 



35 per cent, of the sets we have col- 

 lected consist of three eggs, the rest of 

 two. 



They are very silent birds. I have 

 never heard them utter a sound. Their 

 food consists chiefly of rabbits, squirrels 

 and other small mammals, and some- 

 times they feed on carrion in company 

 with the Black and Turkey Vultures, 

 but they do not associate with them at 

 other times. 



I once came upon a dead cow where- 

 on about thirty Vultures and eight Car- 

 acaras were feeding. 



They all took flight at my approach; 

 the Vultures circling overhead; but 

 the Caracaras all lit on the ground not 

 far away. Their flight resembles that 

 of the Turkey Vulture, but is much 

 stronger and they seldom circle as does 

 a Red-tail. During my fifteen months' 

 stay in and about Monterey, Mex., I 

 saw but two of these birds and that was 

 a year ago last month. 



It seems strange to me that Caracaras 

 should be so rare in that part of Mexi- 

 co. 



Monterey is situated in a valley about 

 thirty miles broad, which is timbered 

 with mesquite, and to ray mind an ideal 

 place for the birds. But it is evident 

 that Folyborus cheriway and I do not 

 think alike. 



Last August I was down on the For- 

 lon River, about ninety miles north- 

 west of Tampico, Mex., and I never 

 saw so many Caracaras in all my life as 

 I saw during that one week. 



They were very abundant. The 



country there is quite flat and is covered 



with mesquite timber about twenty feet 



tall, and in some places is quite dense. 



Irving H. Wentworth, 



Waring, Texas. 



The Oologist. 



A Monthly Magazine Devoted to 



OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. 



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