30 



THE OOLOGIST 



out from our long journey, as the 

 roads were deep with mud and slip- 

 pery from the remaining snow. We 

 were on oui- way home when we got 

 ourj clue to the other site. After go- 

 ing down a lane about a mile we found 

 a nest wliich was occupied, up a dead 

 pine tree that was situated on the edge 

 of a slope adjoining a marsh at the 

 end of a fringe of woods. One of the 

 birds was sitting tight. This was real- 

 ly a nasty looking climb with peeling 

 hark, rotten limbs, and enlargements 

 of the trunk. However, I succeeded in 

 getting up without undue exertion and 

 found the nest to be eighty feet up, 

 very small for Eagles, being less in 

 dimensions than many Ospreys, being 

 not more than three feet in diameter 

 by 18 inches deep on outside. It con- 

 tained two eggs and small ones at 

 that, and if any Florida speciman can 

 beat it on smallness I would like to 

 see it. 



The next morning there was more 

 snow and I prepared for my journey 

 northward arriving in Washington, D. 

 C, on the 7th. I visited the National 

 Museum with Mr. E. J. Court and en- 

 joyed it very much. 



I was not done with the Eagles yet 

 so on the 9th I collected another set 

 of two eggs heavily incubated, in a 

 live Cottonwood tree only fifty feet up, 

 the second easiest tree ever climbed 

 for Eagles. These eagles had nested 

 here thirty years according to the re- 

 port of the older residents there, thus 

 showing that eagles inhabiting the 

 trees do not always kill the tree as 

 many people think. The nests are al- 

 ways made of sticks and lined with 

 straw, husks or marsh grass; and in 

 the south, with an occasional bunch of 

 sea grass or Spanish moss. 



On the 10th, I visited another nest 

 for a friend of mine; it contained one 

 fresh egg. The bird was sitting but 

 pot tightly, 



On the 11th, I visited another that 

 contained two eggs, also very fresh. 

 I told my friend I was as bad off as 

 he, as my set might have contained 

 three or four eggs, he thought his bird 

 might have laid another egg if collect- 

 ed later, as both birds were not sit- 

 ting very tight. Both birds were 1- 

 to 14 days late, while the set collected 

 on the 9th, was right on time regard- 

 less of the severe winter. My exper- 

 ience with the above fact holds that 

 during adverse climate conditions a 

 large percentage of birds will be late 

 while a few individuals will be right 

 on time. 



Arriving home on a lucky day — the 

 13th„ thus ended a two thousand mile 

 journey for a small number of Eagles' 

 eggs. The above summary of eagles 

 nests is: 



Five nests contained eggs. 



One nest contained young. 



One nest contained birds that had 

 not laid. 



One nest a Bachelor nest. 



Twelve nests deserted. 



The latter part might alarm some 

 people, while no doubt some of the 

 birds have been killed. I have known 

 eagles to leave their good substantial 

 eyre and make a new nest a mile awav 

 without apparent cause unless from 

 looking in the nest. At other times if 

 a lumber company has been slashing 

 near, they will leave; and again at 

 other times I have known them to stay 

 while timber was being cut occasion- 

 ally all around them. If the Bald eagle 

 does not offer the greatest diversity of 

 study of any bird of the Eastern 

 States, I will give it up. 



Wm. B. Crisi)in. 

 Salem, New Jersey. 



The Hawks of Southern Wisconsin and 

 Northern Illinois. 

 The Hawks are I think, a very inter- 

 esting and useful class of birds, with. 



