28 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 2 



Hawks in this vicinity during a mild spell in 

 February, a severe cold wave following shortly 

 after. The early migrants were straitened for 

 sustenance and fell easy victims to the gunner ; 

 even the inexpert felt his duty call to hunt a 

 Hawk, though the smallest possible in size, 

 and several were brought me as curiosities, 

 one that chased a Sparrow into a house and 

 another in a neiglibor's barn. 



Since that period, from whatever cause, the 

 species has been decidedly rare here, so much 

 so that some of the intervening years have 

 passed without the observation of a single 

 specimen in the whole twelve montlis. But 

 in 1891, as the spring advanced, an occasional 

 little Accipiter went glancing by and led me to 

 look again toward the old haunts. Thither as I 

 passed up the old road one May-day, far away 

 Hying over the forest I spied a little Hawk 

 bearing something in its talons, and this re- 

 minded me what I had long ago observed, that 

 the female of most species of Hawks, if not all, 

 cling tenaciously to tlie nest during the period 

 of incubation at least, and that the male was a 

 persistent hunter and furnished the commis- 

 sariat. I saw that little fellow as lie disap- 

 peared in a distant part of the swamp, and 

 thither at the first opportunity I followed, and 

 there in the darkest recesses I was again wel- 

 comed with the almost forgotten salutation, 

 kil-dy, kil-dij, kil-dy. I found the nest at last, 

 but it was a long hunt. In a thick-topped 

 cedar there seemed a dark spot ; I struck the 

 trunk of the tree with a stick but there was 

 no response, and again with greater violence, 

 and the female Hawk came dashing out of 

 the tree top with loud outcries in whicli the 

 male, appearing on the scene, immediately 

 joined, the loudest of the pair. 



This nest was about twenty-five feet from 

 the ground and composed entirely of small 

 twigs. It contained four eggs with incubation 

 already well begun. This was on the first day 

 uf June. The set is very different from that 

 first found, an 1 which I have always retained in 

 my collection as one of my m>st highly prized 

 captures. In them the markings are chiefly 

 large, bold, heavy blotches, in one instance 

 on the smaller end. The new set are more of 

 the clouded pattern, the coloration more uni- 

 formly distributed and lighter. The size of 

 the eggs is also less, and if dissimilarity is any 

 sign these must belong to an entirely different 

 bird. For diversity of marking and general 

 variation as well as beauty, I think that the 

 eggs of the Sharp-shinned Hawk take 

 the lead, and that a well selected and 



arranged series thereof wonld be one of the 

 greatest attractions in a collector's cabinet. 



John A. Clark. 



Saj'brook, Conn. 



[I can fully endorse wliat Judge Clark says 

 about the beauty of a series of sets of egg.s 

 of this bird. A series of twenty-three sets 

 now before me shows an almost endless varia- 

 tion in coloration and markings, and yet there 

 is not an ugly set among them. — ,/. P. .V.] 



The Chimney Swift. 



The ancient village of Bernadotte, sur- 

 rounded on three sides with overhanging, 

 vine-clad hills, and the beautiful little river, 

 " The Spoon," flowing at its feet, has always 

 been a favorite resort for the Chimney Swifts, 

 the low^ houses, with their old-fashioned, 

 wide-mouthed chimneys, unused in the sum- 

 mer months, affording them just the site 

 desired for a nesting-place. In these old 

 chimneys scores of them nest every summer. 



After a somewhat hazardous climb to the 

 top of one of these chimneys in the month of 

 June, and after my vision had become some- 

 what accustomed to the gloom, I could discern 

 a dozen or more nests, arranged around the 

 sides of the chimney wall, at a depth of eight 

 or ten feet from the top. The dusky females 

 could scarcely be distinguished from the dark, 

 sooty surroundings. 



Frightening them from off the nests, a 

 strange phenomenon would be witnessed: 

 dropping a short distance below the nest they 

 would distend the wings, and after the manner 

 of a bumblebee on a window-pane, come 

 upwards with a buzzing, roaring sound, until 

 near the top, then dropping back again repeat 

 the process probably several times before they 

 would rush past me out of the chimney. 



Was this strange performance on the part 

 of the Swifts enacted in the hope of frighten- 

 ing me away from the outlet of the chimney, 

 or can they not make their exit in any other 

 manner ? 



Some writers have thought that the Swifts 

 feed their young at intervals during the night. 

 Anyone who has slept in close proximity to a 

 chimney full of young Swifts, and heard their 

 cries and chatterings at intervals all through 

 the night, would believe this theory plausible, 

 the feeding being done, of course, by regurgi- 

 tation. This noisy habit of the young birds 

 becomes very obnoxious to some persons; so 

 much so that summary means are sometimes 



