38 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 18-N0. 3 



two friends. This time I had taken a long 

 rope, and by the aid of it we went down 

 over the side of the cliff, and, as good luck 

 would have it, we found the eyrie just about 

 where I had previously located it ; but on 

 reaching the nest it was found to contain 

 only one egg ; so nothing further was done 

 that time. Just one week later, on the 

 twenty-second of April, I again made a visit 

 .to the mountain. This time the l.)ird did 

 not leave the nest until I was within thirty 

 feet of it, and then she launched out in the 

 air with loud screams, soon bringing her 

 mate to the scene. 



All the time I was near the nest the old 

 birds would fly near and quite often would 

 dart at me with screams of defiance and 

 rage ; then they would sail out over the 

 river several hundred yards away, and, on 

 returning, swoop down at me as though they 

 would tear me in [lieces, thrusting out their 

 talons and screaming all the while. They 

 could have been easily shot, but 1 did not 

 care to do this if I could get the eggs, as 1 

 wished to see if they would lay a second set. 



This time I found the nest to contain four 

 large eggs. 



The nest was only a shallow place in the 

 sand on a shelf of rock. There were a few 

 feathers and a little grass in it. This shelf 

 was about two feet six inches wide and then 

 ran back in the side of the ledge three feet. 

 The roof of this eyrie was only eleven inches 

 from the surface of the shelf ; thus the eggs 

 were entirely out of sight until you reached 

 the shelf. This shelf was about ten feet 

 long, and from it were growing some grasses 

 and ferns. As I have stated, the nest con- 

 tained four eggs, which proved to be quite 

 fresh. Three of these eggs were of a dark 

 brick-red color and the other one was white 

 for the ground color. 



The first egg was the darkest, ha\ ing a 

 brick-red ground color and being thickly 

 spotted and blotched with red and dark 

 brown; near the large end was ipiite an 

 area, evenly marked with light brown spots. 



This was known to be the first egg of the 

 set, as it was mrked at the time the nest 

 was first visited, when it contained only one 

 one egg. 



The second egg was somewhat lighter and 

 the spots of brown larger. The darkest and 

 thickest spots were on the small end ; some 

 of the spots are of a very dark brown. 



The third egg that I describe, the ground 

 color is of a light brick-red at the large end, 

 with many small spots and blotches of light 

 brown, which extend over about two thirds 

 of the surface, and the small end is of a 

 brick-red for the ground color and the end 

 has the appearance of being blotched with 

 light Ijrown, with a belt of dark brown spots 

 radiating from the apex in opposite direc- 

 tions. 



The fourth, as liefore stated, is a white 

 egg in ground color, entirely covered with 

 reddish brown spots about the size of the 

 point of a i)in. With a ])ocket lens these 

 fine spots can be seen all over the surface. 

 At the small end are several spots of light 

 brown about the size of a pin head, and a 

 little to one side are two spots of brown 

 about one eighth of an inch in diameter; 

 near these, and about the same size, are two 

 dark brown spots, almost black. On the 

 large end are several light brown spots and 

 on the sides are a few large light brown 

 blotches. 



I will give the dimensions of the eggs in 

 the order they are descrilied : 1.69x2.04, 

 1.72 X 2. II, 1. 71 X 2.15, and 1.70 x 2.13 

 inches. 



To reach this eyrie with the help of a rope 

 I had climbed about sixty feet down the al- 

 most perpendicular side of the cfiff, and as 

 I sat there on that lofty shelf of red sandstone 

 and beheld the beautiful expanse of the 

 Connecticut valley, with the silvery river 

 majestically winding its course through it, 

 I thought for a moment of the results of one 

 misstep which would precipitate the un- 

 fortunate being nearly two hundred and fifty 

 feet below. 'I'his thought, together with 



