THE OOLOGIST 



77 



with them. They are certainly the hand- 

 somest of Hawks' eggs, the distribution and 

 appearance of the markings of some speci- 

 mens excelling Sparrow Hawks' eggs in 

 beauty. On a yellowish-, pale, or slightly 

 bluish-white ground color, are irregularly 

 scattered, usually at or about the large end, 

 in all the fantastical shapes imaginable, 

 blotches and spatters of various shades, a 

 single specimen frequently exhibiting three 

 or four tints, including yellowish, reddish 

 and blackish. A set of eggs will thus be 

 seen to present a good effect in the cabinet. 

 Kggs sometimes have few markings on 

 them, these in the form of dots and pale 

 spots, while occasionally a specimen will 

 be found without any markings whatever, 

 lu general, the eggs of this species may be 

 said to be splashed with a rich reddish- 

 brown. From an extensive series of eggs, 

 three specimens taken at random exhibit 

 the followinjr measurements : 1.39 by 1.10, 

 1.41 by 1.13 and i.44 by 1.14. The shape 

 is sphero-ellipsoidal, both ends being the 

 same ; some eggs are almost round. When 

 held toward the light, the inside of the shell 

 will be seen to have a greenish tint, like 



A 



Nesting of the Barred Owl (Syr- 

 nium nebulosum). 



BY C. ALGER HAWES. 



8 the nest of the above bird is very sel- 

 dom found in the vicinity of Boston, 

 the following account will, I think, prove 

 interesting to the readers of The Oologist. 

 On April 3rd, 1879, while collecting along 

 the banks of tlie Charles River, on the out- 

 skirts of the town of Wellesley, I was for- 

 tunate enough to find a nest of this species. 

 I was about to enter a very dense copse of 

 soft pine trees, when I observed a large 

 Owl fly into the woods about two gunshots 

 from me. Knowing that it was high time 

 for the nests of the Strigidce I began a care- 

 ful search, and after climbing to several old 

 squirrels' nests, and wasting ( ?) about 

 twenty minutes 1 at last found tlie nest. 



It was built iu a soft pine tree, resting up- 

 on two branches, each about two inches in 

 diameter, and close against the trunk, about 

 forty-five feet from the ground. 1 ascend- 

 ed to the nest and found it to be an old 

 Crow's nest, repaired to suit the new ten- 

 ants, and as I thought, completed. The 

 hollow in the centre of the old nest was 

 filled in with small twigs and several pieces 

 of fresh evergreen. On the edges of the 

 nest were three of the feathers from the 

 side of the breast of S. iiehidonum^ which, 

 from the long stripe and fur-like appear- 

 ance were unmistakable ; and also on a 

 branch just under the nest was a primary 

 wing feather of this bird. Slightly disap- 

 pointed not to have been able to add the 

 globular treasures to my oological collec- 

 tion, I descended, with the idea of again 

 visiting the nest at an early date. 'J'wo 

 days alter, April 5th, I again ascended to 

 the nest, and this time had a fine view of 

 the bird as she flew off. The nest contain- 

 ed one egg, very large for the size of the 

 bird. I did not again visit the nest until 

 April 12th, and then found tliat the prolific 

 female had accommodated me with four 

 eggs. From all accounts of the nesting of 

 this bird that I have access to, all authors 

 agree that three eggs is the number usually 

 laid. Two were of the usual si/e, meas- 

 uring 2.02 by 1.62 and 2.04 by 1.64 ; the 

 third is somewhat larger and measures 2.09 

 by 1.70, while number four was the first 

 egg laid, doubtless, and measures 2.23 by 

 1.75. This day there were two fine sec- 

 ondary feathers on the edge of the nest, and 

 these identify the eggs beyond dispute. Af- 

 ter preparing the eggs (for to me, it seems 

 very dangerous to travel with unblown 

 eggs) I left the grove without disturbing 

 the nest, for I thought that the Owl might 

 lay a second time, and perhaps in the same 

 nest. Impressed with this- idea, I visited 

 the old nest on April 27th, but found it de- 

 serted and much impaired by the recent 

 rains and wind. As I walked on farther, 

 however, I observed what I supposed to be 

 an old squirrel's nest in the fork of a pine 

 tree, about thirty-five feet from the ground. 



