THE OSPREY. 



139 



After the chilliii<;- blasts <>f winter are over 

 and the sunny days commence in the latter part 

 of February, March and April, they f^ive voice 

 to their delif^ht in a manner which I have never 

 observed in any other month of the year. It is 

 a call very similar to that of Sayorjiis phocbc 

 except that it is louder, clearer, and much more 

 distinct, consisting' of two clear sweet notes, 

 pitched rather high; the seccjnd about a half 

 tone lower than the first and both in a distinct 

 minor key. 



I never heard it in the late winter day.->. but 

 that it sends a joyous thrill through me, awak- 

 ening: ])leasant memories and giving- rise to 

 eager anticipations of spending many happy 

 hours in the search for their nests. It is almost 

 equal t<j being awakened some bright March 

 uKjrning by a Robin, jjouring" out in joyous 

 abandon its sweet melody, as it sways back and 

 forth on the topmost twig of a nearby tree, 

 bathed in the first rays of the rising sun. 



I always begin to look for their nests just 

 about the time I have finished with Biiteo 

 horcalis and have been getting full sets of 

 Corviis aniericaniis for a week or ten days; in 

 other Avords, from the 15th of April to the 1st of 

 May, according- to weather conditions. 



In 1896 we had a very early spring and my 

 first full set was taken April fSth. while in 18'i"8 

 it was much later. May 1,-ith. 



They are more or less irregular in their breed- 

 ing, owing to the straggling" manner in which 

 they make their arrival. 



The length of time for getting- first full sets 

 ranges from fourteen to seventeen days, and I 

 have never found set.s later than this period, 

 except of birds whose first sets I had good reason 

 to believe had been taken. Thus my observa- 

 tions w(juld tend to strengthen the belief that 

 but one setting" is deposited in a season, except 

 where this is taken, when two and even three 

 sets may be laid; tnit in this case the later sets 

 are almost invariably small, seldom ever con- 

 taining more than four or five eg"gs. 



The nesting site is generally chosen near 

 some stream or pond, but often in orchards quite 

 distant from any water. Out of about fifty- 

 seven nests observed during the past four sea- 

 sons, there were but fourteen found any distance 

 from water, nine of these being' in orchards, and 

 the other five in heavA' timber. 



A dead stub of a willow tree is preferred, al- 

 though the stubs of hickory, Cottonwood, linden, 

 and wild cherry are not infre(iuently made use of. 



The highest nest found was 30 feet from the 

 ground, the lowest 1 foot, while the average 

 height is 8 feet. 



I have never found them nesting" in natural 

 cavities in any tree except the apple and have 

 no positive evidence of them ever using the 

 cavities of any of the Picidac. 



The cavity i.^ from 1.2.S inch to 1.7.^ inch in 

 diameter at the entrance, widening downward 

 to from 2. .50 inch to 3.50 inch at the bottom, with 

 an average depth of 6 inches 



The structure and material of the nests in this 

 l(jcalit3' is almost invariable. 



The nest is first formed with sides and bottom 

 of fresh green moss, and then lined with soft 

 hair of the rabbit, cow, horse or any other 

 animal that may chance to leave its hair caught 

 on fence or limfj. The earlier in the season the 

 nest is made the more hair is used in making it, 

 with less of the moss, while those later are just 

 the reverse; nests made for second sets are 

 nearU' always very frail. 



From the data of forty-seven sets, the number 

 of eggs to the set ranges as follows: 



No. of Sets. No. of Esgs ii) Set. 



Seven 4 



Ten 5 



Nineteen 6 



Eight 7 



Two 8 



One 9 



This g'ives the averag"e number of e.gg"s to the 

 set as six. 



The female does not commence incubation 

 until all of the eg"g.s have been deposited, and 

 until that time the eg"g.s are kept covered with a 

 layer of hair taken from the nest lining. 



This hair is pushed to one side whenever an 

 egg" is deposited, which is daily, and afterwards 

 replaced. 



This may be taken as an infallible sign as to 

 the completion of the set, unless the bird is 

 flushed while la^'ing-, without having" had time 

 to replace the covering. 



Incubation is completed in fourteen days, and 

 during" this time the female seldoni leaves the 

 nest, being" fed by the male. In many cases she 

 has to be reinoved by force, especially when the 

 incubation is advanced. 



As in the case of all birds whose incubation is 

 short, the voung are soon fledged. 



REMARKS ON SOME OF THE BIRDS OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

 Bv Phimp LrTi.KV SclaTKk, London, En,g"land.* 



Mr. Sclater gave a short account of his recent 

 journey to the Cape of Good Hope, and conclu- 

 ded with the follow'ing remarks on some of the 

 birds of the Cape peninsula: — 



"In the suburbs of Capetown and in tlie im- 

 mediate vicinity of that city, where I spent the 

 greater part of my short stay in South Africa, 

 birds, it must be confessed, are by no means 

 abundant, either in species or in individuals. 



Although I was always on the lookout for them 

 and made short excursions into the .suiTounding'- 

 country nearly every day, mainly for the pur- 

 pose of observing" them, I did not succeed in re- 

 cognizing" positively more than from 20 to 25 

 species, and of some of these I saw but verv few 

 examples. 



"The commonest and most pervading" bird in 

 Capetown and its vicinit)^ at the time of year 



*Reprinted from The Una (~), April 1900, VI, 365-368. 



