February, 1892.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



27 



the place in which he felt most at home. He 

 never before was called upon for a speech. He 

 related his first exi^erience in shooting, which 

 was with a wooden pistol. He loaded it with 

 powder, then a charge of sand; he then placed 

 it near a stiing which lie had smeared with 

 molasses vvhich drew the flies, and when the 

 string was covered with flies he would touch 

 oft' his pistol. Later he hunted big game. 

 Years ago before they knew of any game laws 

 he killed great quantities of game. He brought 

 loads of it to Boston, and the market-men 

 endeavored to prevent his selling the game, so 

 he hired a team and, standing his biggest bull 

 moose up where it could be seen by those 

 coming near his stand, he did a thriving busi- 

 ness, and the market- men were glad to buy 

 him out. He had written some of his experi- 

 ence, which he handed Dr. Bishop to read. 



Dr. Bishop referred to the rejoicing over 

 tlie reclaiming of a sinner. He expected to 

 see a person with a cloven foot and forked 

 tail, instead of the fine specimen of manhood. 

 He thought Mr. Darling had not been so bad 

 as he had been represented to be. He then 

 gave extracts from Mr. Darling's reminiscences, 

 which were in substance what has appeared in 

 these columns over Mr. Darling's signature. 



After singing Auld Lang Syne the company 

 adjourned. Balpli Greenwood. 



Nesting of the Sharp-shinned Hawk. 



In tlie summer of 1878, as I was passing 

 along the road that borders Cedar Swamp, I 

 heard the cries of some species of young 

 birds within the adjacent forest, which I at 

 first supposed to be that of young Crows, 

 but presently an unusual note attracted ray 

 attention and my curiosity sufficiently to draw 

 me from the road and in among the tall 

 cedars on an investigation. The source of the 

 cries was speedily developed, and I saw an old 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk go dashing away, fol- 

 lowed quickly by a number of young ones 

 well fledged, all immediately disappearing in 

 the denser part of the forest. 



This adventure gave me an idea ; here are 

 young Sharp-shinned Hawks, consequently 

 tliere must have been a nest and eggs, and here 

 next season will be another, and don't you 

 forget it, as the boys say, for a nest of that 

 species was one which 1 had never had the 

 good fortune to find. It may be depended 

 upon that my memory was faithful to its 



trust in a matter of so much interest, though 

 I had no clue to work upon, having had no 

 experience of the nesting habits of the 

 species. Perseverance will sometimes, how- 

 ever, fill the place of experience. 



In this case, on tlie 27th of May, 1879, during 

 one of my re]>eated tramps within the shady 

 precincts, I was suddenly startled by a loud 

 cry like kil-dy, kil-dy, kil-dy, three times 

 rajfidly repeated, and a little male Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk came dashing by my head and 

 perching on a neighboring bough again 

 repeated his wild cries. Of course I was at 

 once wide awake to the possibilities, though 

 this was only one of the clews; thoroughly 

 followed up, however, it led me at last to the 

 spot where, in one of a group of cedars near 

 at hand, about forty feet from the ground, I 

 saw a nest and the long tail feathers of the 

 sitting bird extending over one side of it. As 

 I climbed the tree she joined her mate in his 

 outcries and kil-dy, kil-dy, kil-dy resounded 

 on every side in stirring remonstrances against 

 the intrusion. The little male bird was the 

 most demonstrative of the pair, and he would 

 dash at me with the greatest violence and 

 utter his most piercing cry within a few feet 

 of my head, threatening to stiike me with 

 his talons, the mate encouraging him and 

 reiterating his stirring outcries. 



With great gratification I gathered in the 

 beautiful set of five handsomely marked 

 eggs, the first set of the species it had been 

 my good fortune to secure. None but a col- 

 lector can appreciate the satisfaction such an 

 acquisition for the first time yields. We may 

 become accustomed to a series of successes 

 till we can greet them with indifference, but 

 the satisfaction of that first triumph never 

 fades audit is never forgotten in its minutest 

 circumstance. 



In 1880 I was fully prepared with a hearfy 

 \ve\con\e ior Accipiter, and after a little delay 

 was gratified to hear again the old familiar 

 note. This time the nest was built lower 

 down, not over fifteen feet from the ground, 

 and I found the female sitting on the nest 

 several days before the first egg was deposited, 

 and it was near the 10th of June before the set 

 was completed. 



In 1881 the wily pair eluded me till incuba- 

 tion was far advanced, by selecting a distant 

 and secluded part of the swamp and an incon- 

 spicuous tree as the nesting site, but I found 

 it all the same at last, and here my triumphs 

 ended for a long period. Early in 1882 there 

 was a noticeable flight of Sharp-shinned 



