FEn. 1891.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



27 



Nesting of the Flammulated Screech 

 Owl. 



As but little is known of the nesting habits 

 of the Flammulated Screech Owl (Meyaacops 

 Jianimeolus) probably a statement of my ex- 

 perience with these little beauties will be ac- 

 ceptable to readers of the O. & O. 



On .lune •2d of last year I found this bird 

 breedius in the mountains of Colorado at 

 about 10,000 feet elevation. The eggs were 

 placed in a dead asp tree in an old Wood- 

 pecker's excavation about ten feet high. They 

 were tliree in number and quite fresh. The 

 female was sitting on them, and I had 

 to remove her by force, but not until she 

 had destroyed one egg and badly damaged one 

 of the others, so tenaciously did she cling to 

 them. The eggs were white and measured 

 l.i-i X 1. 00 and l.lfi x 1.00. 



On .lune 4th I discovered another nest of 

 Jiammetiliis very similarly situated, about a mile 

 from the former site. This contained two 

 eggs and also one egg of the Red-sliafted 

 Flicker — all quite fresh. As before, the old 

 bird had to be taken off the eggs. I used the 

 greatest care but one egg got damaged in the 

 operation. 



These eggs were deposited on the material of 

 an old squirrel's nest and also a few Flicker's 

 tealhers. This also was in a dead asp 

 tree, eiglit feet high, while in the same 

 tree was a nest of young Flickers si.x feet 

 above. These eggs were also wliite, and 

 measured 1.20x 1.01 and 1.21 x 1.02. 



On June 20th I found a third nest at a much 

 lower altitude (about 8,0^^0 feet). This was 

 placed in a pine tree in an old Woodpecker 

 hole about fourteen feet from the ground. 

 This time the old bird flew off and sat on a 

 limb very near until I had safely secured the 

 four fresh eggs, which wore deposited on a 

 few feathers of the parent bird. In each case 

 tiie eggs were placed ten or twelve inches below 

 the aperture. I captured the old bird in each 

 case, which proved to be the females, and in 

 neither instance did 1 see the old male bird, 

 and I believe they are entirely nocturnal in 

 their movements, and consequently rarely 

 seen. These eggs were creamy white and 

 measured 1.14 x 1.02; 1.10x1.00; 1.10x1.01 and 

 1.12 X. 99. 



All these nesting sites were in dark ravine.s, 

 and near water. The stomachs of the two 

 first were empty, but the third contained the 

 I'emains of some small rodents. I sent 

 the skins to Mr. Wm. Brewster at his solicita- 



tion, and he tells me the plumage differs con- 

 siderably from the material he had at hand, 

 and they may prove to be something new. 



Will. G. Smith. 

 Lovelaiul, Colorado. 



Nesting of Henslow's Sparrow at 

 Stephentown, New York. 



Perhaps it will interest some of the 

 readers of the O. & O. to know that during the 

 past season (l.sflO) I found Henslow's Sparrow 

 (AimitmlraiHux henaloiril) nesting here in this 

 pleasant valley, close to the border of the 

 Berkshire Hills. 



I found the nest on the morning of May 

 17th while crossing one of the old low land 

 meadows. It was sunken in the ground flush 

 with the surface, and admirably concealed by 

 tlie thick mat of old and new grass which 

 covered the meadow bottom. It was a well 

 built structure composed of coarse and fine 

 grasses, a smill quantity of horse hair used in 

 the lining. Diameter inside two inches, di- 

 ameter outside tliree and a half inches, depth 

 one and three-quarter inches. It contained 

 three fresh eggs, which was the full set in 

 this case, as I left them undisturbed until the 

 21st and no more were laid. They aie of a 

 decided greenish-white in ground color 

 speckled and blotched with several shades of 

 brown, also lilac and lavender, thickest at the 

 larger end where the markings nearly obscure 

 the ground color. lii'iij'iiinn Ilaaii. 



Jamestowu, X. Y. 



Nesting of the Broad-winged Hawk 

 at Raleigh, N.C. 



On April 2.5, 1890, my brother found a nest 

 of this species and took therefrom a set of tw'O 

 eggs. The nest was thirty-eight feet up in 

 the top of a tall, thin pine, and was a very 

 rougli, untidy structure of dead sticks, lined 

 with a double handful of rough pieces of pine 

 bark. The old bird was flushed from the nest 

 and whistled somewhat on leaving it. 



When the Broadwings arrived this year they 

 were very noisy, but later, when they had 

 apparently got to work nest^building, they 

 became entirely silent except when disturbed. 



<'. S. Brimley. 



Raleigh, N. ('. 



