ORNITHOLOGIST 



—AND — 



00L0GI8T. 



A Series of Eggs of the 

 shouldered Hawk. 



Red- 



I'.y t;iliulaliii<;- rri-cnt iliita 1 Ikivc fminil tli:it 

 twenty -seven percent of the e<;<;.s of the lied- 

 shoiildeieil Ilutco taken here in the late mild 

 seasons Inive been in.set.sof four. The distribu- 

 tion of my esss will prevent meat thislate date 

 from writing at leiiiitli on the individual charac- 

 teristics and distiujinishing markinjis npon a 

 series of e^gs from the .same Hawks. When my 

 liiitcnH e<;ns l^y side by side in thirteen 

 yearly accessions from the same localilies the 

 family likyiess or race lines was most clearly 

 shown. It did not even need the eye of an ex- 

 pert to note this. More than once have I asked 

 a novice in oiilojry to pi<dc out the eit.ys laid by 

 the same Hawk, and he would i;o from case 

 to case and indicate the eL;i;s almost uner- 

 ringly. 



Wliilc colic. cfin<j; these sots every sprint;. 

 whctbci- fidiu old sites or new nests. 1 would 

 reco^ijiize the ear marks on the enfjs of my 

 old friends as a fancier would tell his Wliite 

 liC^horns from his I'artridj^e Cocdiins, or his 

 l)ini^lillls from bis Asi.itics. There were the 

 Hell <iate Hawks, I'lain Hill, the .Sunnyside, 

 and the f'ranbeiry Txiji' Flawks; all easily de- 

 terjuined by iiecniiaiillo in .a lonf; series of 

 their ejj.t;s. The rntisruihhiuri' would con- 

 stantly hold i;ood as to shape, size and num- 

 ber, blotcbiufis and sub-surface iudicalions. It 

 wcnild be KratifyiuK if other collectors, takinn 

 a huiK yearly series of ejriis from one locality, 

 W(uild -live us a few notes upon the recurrence 

 of individual tyjjes in their ei^us of I!ed- 

 shouldcred Hawks. ,/. 3/. \\\ 



N'o attempt has ever been made to des'^ribe 

 in detail the wcmderful variations to which 

 egfis of the Hed-sbonldered Hawk(7iH/co liiif- 

 atnx) are subject. Feu- many years the cele- 

 brated oiilogist ".I. JI W.- (Mr. C. L. Rawsoii) 

 has devoted much time to collecting fine series 



of eggs of this bird, and in obtaining desirable 

 specimens he had of necessity to discard 

 man.y sets which were nest stained and 

 marked in a commonplace manner. Every 

 year, however, he was able to add several 

 sets which were noticeable either for beauty 

 of coloiation, odd iorm, or some pecudiarity. 

 Keeping also a luimberof typical sets, in time, 

 his eidlection of the eggs of this Hawk be- 

 came the finest and the nncst complete in the 

 world. Some years ago he went over it with 

 the g]-eatest care am! selected all the hand- 

 somest, oddest, and most typical .sets, and 

 presented them to nu> in the most generous 

 manner. Every year since he has sent me 

 some more fine sets — the best of bis taking — 

 until the series described below now contains 

 fitly eight sets of bis collecting. The remain- 

 ing nineteen sets from other <'<dlectors were 

 selected either to show geographical ilistribu- 

 tion or for their oddity oi- beauty. 



T:iken as a whole the present series of eggs 

 of this Hawk certainly is the largest, finest, 

 and most c<unplete in existence. 



Mr. Rawsou has also kindly allowed me to 

 use his field notes. 



•Set I. May 2, I.s7-'. Renssclaci-. X. Y. 

 Collected by .1. H. Beatly. Nest in ( hestnnt 

 tree, forty-live feet up. Three eggs, fresh. Dull 

 white; oiu' of them marked at the smaller end 

 with large sjHits of burnt umber; another is 

 s])riukled all over with small spots of ecru 

 drah: while the tbiid has large s]Kits of tawiiy 

 oiivc near the larger cud : L'.O-I x I. (•>(»: lM 1 x 1.74; 

 L'. 1 1 X 1.71. 



.Set II. April 2:!, 18S2. Wooded run near 

 I'eg's ('base, Ledyard, New London ('.>., Ct. 

 Collected by '-.I. M. \\." "New nest, well 

 feathered, raised on old foundation of Crow 

 and Gray .Scpiirrel. Eemale tried to slij) away 

 unperceived, as the nest, in big-bodied chest- 

 luit, w'as approached." Three eggs, fresh. 

 f)ne broken. I'ure white, very delicately 

 marked with small scrawling lines of buiiit 



(.'opyrisht, 13JI, by FR.4.XK B. Web.stek. 



(A ^ i 



