THE OSPREY. 



71 



street. He had plucked a Sparrow out of the 

 nest, and was leisurely proceeding- to enjoy an 

 afternoon lunch. I stopped and watched the 

 performance for a few moments, then stepped 

 hastily onward to my home, got my gun. went 

 back to where the Accipiter remained in the 

 most unconcerned disregard of my suspicious 

 movements, and soon had in hand a tine speci- 

 men of A. velox, with fragments of the unfor- 

 tunate sparrow. 



My Montana acquaintance with Accipiter 

 velox lias beenm ore satisfactory, zoologically 

 considered; it began on May 19, 1900, when I 

 was scouring a small willow and haw thicket 

 near Lewistown, Fergus Count}', my present 

 home. I was drawing- near the terminus of a 

 weary tramp in a drizzling rain, and had 

 chanced upon several "rinds" that had kepi up 

 my spirits despite the conditions. A specimen 

 of velox, angered at my intrusion of its appro- 

 priated domain, Happed from a perch a few 

 yards ahead of me. clacking loudly as it darted 

 among the dwarf stein- to another position not 

 far away. Visions of eggs, splashed, blotched 

 and dotted, — yea, egg's of the Sharp-shinned 

 Hawk — not yet represented in my small collec- 

 tion, sent a thrill of hope through my mind, and 

 as I scanned the surroundings with eager 

 glances I mentally pictured the fine series of 

 eggs of A. velox that might fall to my lot. — a 

 brilliant figment of tin- imagination caused 

 merely by the sight of a Hawk flitting 

 through the shrubbery. Nothing was in \ 

 however, except a half-completed nest low 

 down in a haw tree: and this doubtful looking 

 structure might be only -perish the thought! 

 might be only the foundation of a deserted 

 ('low's nest of a former season. 



The first of June found me again a visitor at 

 the thicket, and this time, as I approached the 

 nest with foot-fall as light as dew- on the 

 ground.— ah. there was the mistress presiding 

 over her establishment with due faithfulness, 

 and in a few moments I was gazing upon three 

 handsome eggs, marked and blotched even be- 

 yond my vividest fancy. Leaving the eggs un- 

 disturbed, I returned to tin- nc-t on June 6th, 

 finding four eggs to be the full complement. 



Tlie nest was a mass of twigs placed in a crotch 

 of a haw tree, the brim being nine (.9) feet from 

 the ground. The structure was 10 to 12 inches 

 in its varying- diameters, the cavity being one 

 and one-half inches deep, with no attempt at 

 lining. 



On July 3rd. l'mo. I was spending my last day 

 of collecting in the vicinity of the Montana 

 State University Biological Station, Flathead 

 Lake. It was not my last day of collecting, I 

 should explain, but my last day of egg-collect- 

 ing, for my time thereafter had been promised 

 for the collecting of birds. I was exploring a 

 swampy willow grove along the lakeshore, 

 where I had spent more or less time during the 

 preceding three weeks. Passing a group of 

 tils. I started a female Sharp-shinned Hawk, 

 and as she turned behind one of the surrounding 

 clumps of bushes, I caught her by a fortunate 

 shot; indeed. I thought she had escaped, and 

 did not take the trouble to look for her. Upon 

 reaching up to the nest from which she had 

 started, I found four as handsome eggs as I ever 

 beheld. Then I began to regret that the owner 

 had not offered me a more opportune shot, and 

 going to the place where she had disappeared, 

 I looked carefully, but without result. Return- 

 ing to the nest, I gathered the beauties and 

 made careful notes in my tablet. 



This nest was placed between two large firs, 

 which grew about two feet apart and about two 

 feet from a slender birch, forming- a triangular 

 site for t lie Accipitrine home, well concealed 

 and cozily situated upon the horizontal, inter- 

 locking branches of the firs. The site was eight 

 feet from the ground. As usual, the nest was a 

 mass of -mall twig r s. the averag-e diameter being 

 fifteen inches. The cavity was six inches across 

 and one and one-half inches deep, no lining 

 being evident. The eggs were found to be ad- 

 vanced in incubation. Disliking to depart with- 

 out more definite identification of the eggs, I 

 searched for the owner, and finally found her 

 where she had fallen at a considerable distance 

 beyond the clump which had last hidden her 

 from vision. Thus ends my story of Accipiter 

 velox. 



WILLIAM SWAINSON AND HIS TIMES.— IX. 

 By Theodore Gii.i.. Washington. D. C. 



(Continual from Vol. V, page 58.) 



Swainson's so-called "Defence" further was 

 devoted to laudation of the French Naturalists 

 in question, intermixed with much irrelevant 

 matter and the ventilation of his own grievance 

 against another French Naturalist (the Baron de 

 Ferussac). < hie apparent assumption of Vigors, 

 however, was properly dealt with, viz: "that 

 there exists a conspiracy among the naturalists 

 of France against those of England". Swainson 

 with some justice added that "such sentiments. . 

 are implied.no one can doubt who has perused 

 the repeated attacks that have been made upon 

 some of the French Naturalists individually, 

 and upon the whole collectively." Vigors un- 



doubtedly had g-one too far in such an assump- 

 tion, but his language in defense, otherwise, was 

 not more vigorous than Swainson's in animad- 

 version of him or of John Edward Gray a short 

 time before. He could not but have anticipated 

 if he did not deliberately provoke a controversy. 

 After a vain "appeal" to Swainson "through 

 the medium of his friends" for "due reparation 

 for expressions" which he was willing "to be- 

 lieve originated in some strange and untoward 

 misconception" (iv, 206, 207), Vigors gave vent 

 to his wrath in "A reply to Art. L, No. xxiii, of 

 this Magazine" (M. N. H, iv, 319-337). He 

 charged Swainson with having had the audacity 



