THE OOLOGIST 



27 



Eastern Connecticut Broad-wing Notes 



It was a lovely morning, en May 

 24, 1911, the sun was shining bright- 

 ly and I could hear the notes of birds 

 in all directions. I left home about 

 eight a. m., equipped with a collecting 

 box, climbers and lunch, for a day's 

 hunt for nests of the Broad-wing 

 Hawk. 



My first step was in a small clump 

 of white pines about one-half mile 

 from home, at a nest I had seen un- 

 der construction the week before and 

 which I thought was a Cooper's Hawk, 

 but as I thumped on the tree trunk 

 I was very much surprised to see a 

 female Sharp-shinned leave the nest 

 and in a few minutes returned with 

 the male, uttering their cries. As I 

 did not need any climbers I was soon 

 looking into a nest which contained 

 tw^o pretty eggs which I left to get a 

 full set my next trip which was the 

 next week. 



I left this locality and after walking 

 about a mile I passed by a nest in a 

 Chestnut tree 45 feet up, from which 

 I had taken a fine set of two Red-tail 

 eggs April 1st and a set of three Red- 

 shoulder April 20th. I was surprised 

 to see the tail of a Hawk projecting 

 from the nest. I banged on the tree 

 trunk and the female Broad-wing left 

 the nest and after flying about 25 

 yards perched on a limb and watched 

 me as I was going up to the nest. The 

 nest contained three nicely marked, 

 fresh eggs covered with some fresh 

 green leaves. This nest I will long 

 remember as it produced some nice 

 sets of eggs every year, but now gone 

 with lots of others, the tree being cut 

 for lumber this winter. 



After crossing a small valley to the 

 East about one-half mile in to one of 

 my favorite spots I flushed a female 

 Broad-wing from a nest in a chestnut 

 tree only 12 feet from the ground, the 

 same nest from which I collected my 



i'-Tst and only egg set of Broad-wing. 

 This nest also contained three well 

 narked eggs incubated about one 

 week. 



It was now lunch time, so after eat- 

 ing my lunch, having a good drink of 

 spiing water and a few minutes with 

 my corn cob, I was ready to renew my 

 search. After following along the bank 

 of Snake Meadow Brook for about a 

 mile I came to a patch of oakes. I 

 had never found a nest of any kind 

 of Hawk in these woods, and after 

 ! assing through some good ground I 

 never thought of finding a nest in 

 these small oaks. As I approached 

 the patch I saw a male Broad-wing 

 perched on a dead limb but he was 

 soon out of sight in the oaks. After 

 looking some time I flushed the fe- 

 male from a nest that did not look 

 half large enough for a Hawk's nest. 

 It was the poorest constructed nest 

 I have ever seen, just a few sticks, a 

 few pieces of coarse bark placed in 

 the top of an old Squirrel's nest. The 

 nest contained three very nicely 

 marked fresh eggs. 



After tramping some time without 

 finding anything, I became tired and 

 started on the shortest cut for home, 

 which led me down an old logging 

 road through a swamp. I had not gone 

 very far when I saw a male Broa<l- 

 wing perched up high on the limb of 

 an Elm by the side of the road. I stop- 

 ped to think of a place that would be 

 suitable for a Hawk to nest in and 

 decided upon a clump of Chestnuts 

 some 200 yards to the north. I was 

 about to start for this clump when the 

 male left his perch and almost the 

 same instant the female followed him. 

 having flushed from her nest whlcti 

 was placed in the same tree and was 

 almost invisible from where I stood, 

 it being placed in the forks of four 

 limbs, up 18 feet from the ground. 

 The nest contained two large well- 



