76 



TEE OOLOGIST 



There is a great similarity between the nests 

 of this species, the Curve-bill and the Mock- 

 iug-bivd, and iu most cases they so closely 

 resemble each other in position, material, 

 etc., that it is not ordinarily easy to tell one 

 from another. 



The eggs, four iu number — occasionally 

 five — are " marked very much like those of 

 H. 7-ufus, and are hardly distinguishable 

 from them. The typical egg has a ground 

 color of the faintest greenish-white, and is 

 finely speckled all over with brown, the 

 dotting being thickest at the larger end." 

 Dr. Merrill says that " the usual number 

 of eggs is three, often two, more rarely 

 four ; the ground color varies from green- 

 ish to reddish-white, more or less thickly 

 sprinkled with reddish and brownish dots 

 and spots. One set is sparingly covered 

 Avith lar<;e clouded blotches, <jivin<2; the eirsrs 

 an appearance unusual in this genus." To 

 show what variation there may be in eggs 

 of this species, although there is no remark- 

 able point of variation, the following from 

 Mr. Sennett's notes will add to the above : 

 " Several sets were obtained with the 

 ground-color yellowish-white, and so thick- 

 ly speckled as to have a general color of 

 ochre. One set is nearly pure white, speck- 

 led thickly only in the form of a wreath at 

 the larger end, otherwise very sparsely and 

 faintly marked. The shape is usually imi- 

 form, like all the Thrushes' ; but I have 

 one egg shaped exactly like a Quail's egg. 

 The largest egg was 1.12 by 0.84, and the 

 smallest 1.01 by 0.75. I'he average length 

 was 1.07 by 0.78." 



The eggs of the Texas Thrasher or Long- 

 billed Thrush are not unkngwu in cabinets, 

 though until late years they were considered 

 rare. The nests are found rather abund- 

 antly in suitable localities. 



One will be surprised sometimes at the 

 number of different species to be found nest- 

 ing in close proximity to one another in a 

 swamp or on marshy ground. Such re- 

 gions are generally the best for the collector. 



(FIG. 4.) 



Nesting of Accipiter fuscus. 



T^HE Sharp-shinned Hawk, known local- 

 •^ ly as the "Pigeon Hawk," "Chicken 

 Hawk," etc., is rather abundant through- 

 out North America and is well known to 

 naturalists. Its numbers can generally be 

 estimated best in the spring of the year, just 

 before nesting season, when, at times, the 

 air seems to swarm with them, and many 

 are seen in the woods. They prefer wood- 

 ed and hilly country, being found iu the 

 heart of the deepest forests, sometimes fly- 

 ing about in the high trees, at others low 

 down, quite near the ground, where they 

 obtain large numbers of mice and small 

 birds. The hunter will frequently come 

 suddenly upon one silently perched on the 

 lower limbs of a tree in the depths of the 

 forest, wat(;hing for its prey. But they are 

 by no means uncommon in open country ; 

 every farmer's boy knows him and well, 

 for he is accustomed to fly over the mead- 

 ows at sunset in search of mii-e and moles. 



The nest of this Hawk is placed in trees, 

 usually of the hard-wood species ; some- 

 times, according to Dr. Coues and others, 

 on rocks. It is built of sticks, in the man- 

 ner of other Hawks' nests, and lined with 

 a few feathers or rootlets ; in some cases 

 without any lining whatever. It is about 

 as large as a Crow's nest, but not so bulky 

 as those of its larger relatives, and is built 

 generally in accessible trees, often as low 

 as fifteen feet from the ground iu some por- 

 tions of the country, where ' 



" familiarity breeds contempt ;" 

 many nests being taken and destroyed by 

 boys ; but in its northern home, it selects 

 a position some twenty-five to forty feet 

 high. It nests during the latter part of A- 

 pril and the first week in May. 



The eggs, four in number — frequently 

 five — are always easily recognized ; they 

 resemble nearest those of the Pigeon Hawk. 

 They are variable, so much so that one 

 specimen may be entirely free from spots, 

 while another may be almost totally covered 



