18 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 14-No. 2 



eg-gs are the usual number. Called Sparrow 

 Hawk. Breeds from the fifteenth of May until 

 the twentieth of June. 



Accipiter coopcn. Cooper's Hawk. Resi- 

 dent, and common. Breeds usually early in 

 May. They are very wild and wary, building 

 their nests in the tops of the tallest trees. 

 Called Blue-tailed Hen Hawk. 



Buteo borealis. Red-tailed Hawk. Com- 

 mon, and -resident, breeding from the fifteenth 

 of March until the end of April. Have never 

 found over two eggs in a nest. Called Moun- 

 tain Hawk. 



Buteo latinftintiis. Broad- winged Hawk. Sum- 

 mer visitor; common. Arrive here about the 

 end of March, and commence to build their 

 nests usually the fifteenth of April. Three 

 eggs are the usual number, although 1 have 

 found four, and sometimes only two are found. 

 The average height of their nests found in this 

 vicinity has been forty feet; twenty-five feet 

 has been the lowest, and sixty feet the highest. 

 This is one of the most unsuspecting of hawks, 

 and is shot on every occasion by the farmers, 

 as all the depredation done in the poultry yard 

 by Cooper's Hawk is laid at its door. 



Aqidla chrymHoH. Golden Eagle. Seen oc- 

 casionally on the higher mountains. While 

 camping on Black Mountain September 12, 

 1886, a splendid bird of this species was ob- 

 served perched on the top of a dead tree, with- 

 in a few yards of our camp. My companion 

 seized a Remingtcm, and fired, but unfortu- 

 nately the sight of an eagle was too much for 

 his nerves, or else his conscien(;e must have 

 pricked him for shooting on Sunday. At any 

 rate the bullet went wide of the mark, and 

 away went our eagle. Of course, it was the 

 rifle's favilt. 



Halifeetm leucorephalm. Bald Eagle. Resi- 

 dent; rare. It formerly nested on several of 

 the mountains near here, and I have examined 

 quite a number of old nests. The last record I 

 can find is, that a nest and two young birds 

 were found about twenty miles from here, in 

 Henderson County, and brought to Asheville in 

 June, 188(5. 



Falco pereiirhiux (uiaUim. Duck Hawk. Seen 

 occasionally during the summer months. The 

 only one seen this year was near Asheville on 

 June 10th, and it will be some time before I 

 forget the scrape I got into over it. I had 

 stopped in front of a house, and had been 

 watching it for nearly half an hour, when the 

 bird suddenly swooped down and carried off a 

 chicken. Out came the lady of the house in a 

 great rage, and, as the hawk was out of sight 



by that time, she turned the full force of her 

 wrath on me, and demanded if I had nothing 

 else to do but stand there and watch that 

 "Hen Hawk" carry oft" her chickens. I tried 

 to get out of it the best way I could, and told 

 her that it was a rare hawk that I liad been 

 watching, and that it was not a Chicken Hawk, 

 but a Buck Hawk. This only made things 

 worse, for she screamed out at the top of her 

 voice, "Do you call that a Duck Hawk you 

 fool, you f Do you call that a duck it carried 

 off?*' That was the last time that I have 

 stopped at that house, and am always in a 

 hurry when I pass there. 



Falco sparverhis. Sparrow Hawk. Resident; 

 common. Breeds in April and ]\Iay. Four or 

 five eggs are the usual number. 



Pandion hidketus rarolinen.nH. American 

 Osprey. Seen occasionally during the sum- 

 mer, but have never found them breeding. 



Symiwn nebulosun. Barred Owl. Resident; 

 rare. Breeds here, but I never found but one 

 nest. It was in a large hollow tree, and con- 

 tained three young birds. 



Meijanrops (txio. Screech Owl. Resident: 

 common. Breeds in April. 



Bubo vinjinuotuK. Great Horned Owl. Resi- 

 dent; common. Breeds from the fifteentli of 

 January until the end of February. Its nests 

 are very hard to find, as there are so many 

 hollow trees in this locality. 



Coccyzuff ammramot. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 

 Summer visitor; abundant. IJreeds from the 

 middle of May until .June and July. Strange 

 as it may seem this bird was very rare until 

 the past two years. Since then it has been one 

 of our most common summer birds. Tlie aver- 

 age height of their nests, which I have found 

 during the past two years, has been eight feet. 



Corcyzus erytlirophthahnuH. Black - billed 

 Cuckoo. Summer visitor; common. The same 

 may be said about it as the Yellow-billed 

 species, though it has not appeared in such 

 numbers. One nest found last year contained 

 one fresh egg, one egg nearly ready to hatch, 

 and a good sized young bird. 



Ceryle alcyon. Belted Kingfisher. Rare; 

 summer visitor. Breeds in May. 



Bryobates vlllosua. Hairy Woodpecker. Seen 

 occasionally on the higher mountains. Breeds 

 on Craggy Mountain. 



Dryobates rillosux (tuduhonii. Southern Hairy 

 Woodpecker. Resident; common on the lower 

 mountains. Breeds in April. 



Dryobaten pubcsfPtiN. Downy Woodpecker. 

 Resident; common. Breeds later in the sea- 

 son than D. riUnsiis. 



