Jan. 18S9.] 



a:n^d oologist. 



7 



10;}. Melopelia leucoptera (Linn.). Wliite- 

 winfjed Dove. Sninmer visitant; not common. 

 There is no record of its nest and e<;<j;s having 

 been taken in tlic state. Found up to 11,500 

 feet. (Drew). 



104. Caihartpf< aura (Linn.). Turkey A"ul- 

 ture. Summer visitant, common, l^reeds up 

 to 12,000 feet. Found one nest at this altitude 

 in La Plata Mts. It was placed in tlie cleft of 

 a large broken boulder upon tlie mountain's 

 side. Tlie eggs were two, of a dirty white 

 color, blotched with different shades of red- 

 dish brown. They were deposited in a slight 

 hollow, in whicli dirt had been washed, and 

 the ground color was somewhat discolored from 

 contaiit with it. They measured 2.7o by 1.1)5, 

 and 2.70 by 1.91. The vicinity of this nest 

 was dirty and loathsome, the stench being 

 something terrible. 



10"). CirrnH hiuUoniu.'i (Linn.). Marsh Hawk. 

 Summer visitant; common. May be found in 

 winter in southern portions of the state. The 

 number of eggs to a clutch of this species has 

 caused some argument in past years, as high 

 as twelve and thirteen having been given, 

 (see Brewer's North American Oology, p. 115, 

 Smithsonian, 1S5S), but it is safe to put it at 

 fi'om three to six. Extreme sets of seven have 

 been taken, and upon good authority. They 

 are, when freshly laid, of a greenish-blue, but 

 change in the nest to a dirty white, which is 

 generally supposed to be the true color. They 

 are usually plain, but sometimes spotted and 

 blotched with purplish brown. Nest is on the 

 ground always, but not to be described, as I 

 never yet saw any so near alike as to warrant 

 a dc scription that WH)uld be characteristic. 

 Sometimes the eggs are simply deposited in a 

 hollow in dry moss or grass. More often, how- 

 ever, a nest is made of grass, with a slight 

 foundation of sticks, or twigs, all very loosely 

 thrown together. 



106. Accipiter velox (Wils.). Sharp-shinned 

 Hawk. A resident as far north as Fort Col- 

 lins. Tolerably common. This species is far 

 more common than is generally supposed, but 

 for some reason seems to be easily overlooked. 

 Even Dr. Hayden did not observe it during the 

 Warren explorations, in a country where it is 

 very conimon. It is most abundant in Colo- 

 rado in the mountainous portions, and I have 

 many quotations from such localities. It 

 breeds up to 9,500 feet. It builds a nest of 

 small twigs, with but scanty lining; it also uses 

 old magpies' nests that are in ruins, and de- 

 posits its eggs upon the dome, which has 

 fallen upon the nest proper. Their eggs vary 



greatly in coloration, and it would take a large 

 series to describe^ them fully.* 



107. Accipiter cooperi (Bonap.). Cooper's 

 Hawk. Summer visitant (?) in northern por- 

 tions; resident in the south; common. Breeds 

 in trees, or upon rocky ledges of the canyons, 

 and the immense "wash-outs" of the prairie. 

 It preys upon Grouse, Hares and reptiles. Its 

 fondness for the ranchman's poultry is very 

 nearly paid for by the insects it eats; both this 

 and the preceding, adding grasshoppers and 

 bugs to its bill of fare. Eggs are pinkish- 

 white, sometimes faintly spotted with light 

 brown. These spots or blotches are often 

 nearly obsolete. Three or four are the luimber 

 to a clutch, with extreme sets of five. I will 

 say here that the farmer and ranchmen of the 

 West will find tliis and A. velox more their 

 friends than enemies, although in the East 

 where its natural prey is scarce, this can 

 hardly be said, as its frequent descents into 

 the poultry yard will attest. 



103. Accipiter atricapillus striatubiti (Ridgw.). 

 Western Goshawk. Resident in mountainous 

 portions of the state. Tolerably common. 

 Breeds at 10,030 feet. This is the handsomest 

 bird of its family, but of a far more ferocious 

 nature than the two preceding species, 

 although their general habits are much the 

 same. Eggs much like A. cooperi, but of larger 

 size. 



100. linteo horeaiis calurus (Cass.). Western 

 Red- tail. Resident; common. Breeds through- 

 out the state on plains and in mountainous dis- 

 tricts. Its habits are the same as horealift 

 proper, but it nests in the West upon ledges 

 throughout the plains district, and in the 

 mountains will often select quite low sites for 

 its nest-making. It is much easier work to 

 secure its eggs than in the heavy woods of New 

 England. Eggs, generally three, but too well 

 known to require a description here. Ranges 

 up to 18,500 feet in autumn. 



110. Buteo harlani (And.). Harlan's Hawk. 

 Winter visitant; rare. Reported by Captain 

 Thorne from eastern Colorado. 



112. Buten swainsoni (Bonap.). Swainson's 

 Hawk. Resident; tolerably common. Most 

 often found in the timber fringing the streams. 

 Nest is a very bulky affair, and from 12 to 50 

 and 60 feet from the ground. I found a nest 

 in Wyoming on September 12, 1884, in a 

 dwarfed cottonwood. It was very large, and 

 had a good-sized platform on one side, sitting 

 upon which was a single young bird, just 



*Mr. J. Parker Norris has done this. See (). S: O., pp. 

 75-77, May, 1888. 



