248 



THE OOLOGIST. 



very tall and slender, and rooked and 

 jerked dangerously in the strong wind 

 which prevailed throughout the day. 



The nest was placed near the top iu a 

 very small crotch ninety feet above the 

 ground, and was extremely hard to 

 reach, owing to the oscillating motion 

 of the tree. The material used was 

 sticks and twigs for the body of the nest 

 with a lining of fine strips of bark aud 

 was rather bulky, measuring thirty-six 

 inches in diameter and twelve inches 

 deep, outside. 



While I was nearing the nest both old 

 birds swooped down toward me several 

 times passing quite^close. 



The eggs were two in number, white 

 with soiled bluish tint. One is marked 

 over the entire shell with light cloud- 

 ings of j^ellowish brown, thickest on 

 smaller end. The second, which had 

 become addled since incubation started, 

 was marked spariuglj^ and chiefly on 

 larger end. They ^measure, respective- 

 ly 2.44x1.88 and 2.40x1.92 inches. 



Several other like trips made, but in 

 no one day did I take more than one 

 set of eggs. 



Leaving the subject of Red-tails I will 

 now describe my most interesting (1892) 

 Hawk's nest trip, Interesting because 

 I found my first authentic nest of the 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk {Accipiter velox). 



Stimulated by recent finds of Coop- 

 er's Hawk [Accipiter cooperi) nests, I 

 decided on the evening of the sixth of 

 Maj^ to make prepai'ation ^for a long 

 trip the next day. 



The morning dawned bright, and ac- 

 cordingly, I started on my route. 



Four or five miles were traveled with- 

 out success. Presently, while ascend- 

 ing a long hill I caught sight of what I 

 supposed was a Cooper's Hawk's nest, 

 among some vines, forty feet above the 

 ground in a chestnut sapling, which, 

 with three or four companions, was 

 growing from the I'oots of an old stump 

 long since mouldered to soil. Upon 

 pounding on the tree I was pleased to 



see a Hawk leave the nest and fly rapid- 

 ly away. 



Imagine my surprise upon climbing 

 up to find a small richly colored egg in 

 the nest. At first I thought it was a 

 runt egg of Accipiter cooperi. But the 

 nest was so small, constructed dift'erent- 

 ly, and in such an odd situation. While 

 thus engaged in pondering over my 

 mystei'ious find the clear notes of a 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk rang out, followed 

 closely by the whisping of wings, as the 

 old bird dashed past my head. Quick- 

 ly whirling upward she turned and 

 with lightning velocity darted past 

 again. Again and again this perform- 

 ance was repeated, all the time keeping 

 up her alarm notes. 



Slipping down quickly I hurried away 

 fearing my already long'presence would 

 cause the birds to quit their nest. 



Pressing on four milesffarther I came 

 across a Cooper's Hawk sitting 

 on her nest fifty-flve feet up in a hickory 

 tree. It contained four eggs, pale blu- 

 ish gi'een and unmarked. Size: 1.95x 

 1.52,1,94x1.54, 1.93x1.51 and 1.95x1.51 

 inches. 



The nest was composed of twigs, 

 sticks and bark. Bark, in this case as 

 in general with nests of this species was 

 used as a sort of lining, being scattei'ed 

 over inside wall of nest. This nest 

 measured twenty four inches in diam- 

 eter and twelve inches deep, outwardly 

 including an old squirrels nest upon 

 which it was placed. 



Returning home by another route, I 

 was so fortunate as to find another set 

 of four. The nest was of the same ma- 

 tei"ial as the last, and was placed on an 

 old crow's nest fifty feet above the 

 ground where four oak branches foi'med 

 a substantial crotch. 



Eggs almost equal ended, pale bluish- 

 green. One is unmarked and the others 

 marked sparingly AvitU'blurred splashes 

 of yellowish. Size: 1.82x1.57, 1.88x1.53 

 1.84x1.52 and 1.86x1.52 inches. 



Returning to the subject of the Sharp- 



