150 



THE OOLOGIST. 



twelve inches in outside depth. The 

 nest cavity is a rounded hollow in the 

 inner bark, eight inches across and 

 three inches in depth. The nest is 

 placed from twenty to sixty feet from 

 the ground, commonly in chestnut, oak 

 or maple trees, with now and .-igain a 

 nest in a pine. 



A single pair occupies a whole grove, 

 and has usually three or four nests, 

 building new nests often enough to 

 keep that number in fair condition at 

 all times. Some pairs build new nests 

 more frequently than others; one pair 

 to my knowledge having built three new 

 nests in as many years; another pair re- 

 pairing old nests during the same per- 

 iod. In my experience, if repeatedly 

 robbed the birds will not resort to the 

 same grove every year, but will skip at 

 least one year in every four. I have 

 never taken sets from the same pair 

 more than three consecutive years. 

 Neither do I believe that this bird al- 

 ways lays a second set, if the first has 

 been taken, for in several instances I 

 have known of the birds remaining in 

 the grove where they had been robbed, 

 during the whole of the season, and 

 making no further attempt at nesting. 

 When, however, they do lay a second 

 set it is deposited about four weeks 

 after the first has benn taken. Not shy 

 while nesting they usually abandon a 

 nest which has been disturbed before 

 an egg is laid, but after the first egg is 

 deposited they will not desert. The 

 bird usually utters a sharp cry when 

 one approaches the nesting site, and 

 while the nest is being despoiled, one or 

 both birds may commonly be seen soar- 

 ing at great height and uttering the 

 sharp cry at intervals. 



The eggs lie in the nest without any 

 pretence of i-egular order, usually from 

 two to four in number. I have never 

 had the good fortune to observe a set of 

 five. Three is the most common num- 

 ber; about every third set containing 

 either two or four eggs. The ground 



color is brownish or bluish-white, blotch- 

 ed and spotted with various shades of 

 brown, with sub shell markings of lilac. 

 One egg in each set being frequently 

 free from the heavier blotches and spots, 

 but on close inspection it is often by far 

 the handsomest egg of the set, its tints 

 and shades of color being most delicate. 

 The uncommon marking is a splashy 

 appearance, as if a gieat lump of color- 

 ing had been thrown on. and then 

 quickly spread over the egg Eggs 

 from different sets taken from the same 

 grove have, ordinarily, the same gener- 

 al characteristics, and are readily inter- 

 changeable. When, however, there is 

 any difference, there is a complete dif- 

 ference in detail; all strongly tending 

 to prove that the same pair of birds re- 

 turn year after year to their old sites. 



Perhaps it would not be amiss in con- 

 nection with the foregoing, to give a 

 running tale of a good day's collecting 

 of the eggs of this species in 1898: 



My brother and myself were up be- 

 times on the morning of April 17, 1898, 

 and were soon ready to start on our 

 rounds to collect toll from our Red- 

 shouldered Hawks. We had decided 

 to take different routes that we might 

 the more fully cover our tt-rritory. My 

 friend, J. D , who thouarh not a collec- 

 tor, has accompanied me on many a trip 

 afield, was to keep me company. On 

 reachiug our parting place, with a mu- 

 tual 'good luck," we scught our differ- 

 ent sites, to meet at an agreed place 

 some miles further on. We reached our 

 first grove about nine o'clock, two hill- 

 sides well wooded with tall chestnut 

 trees, with hei'o and there a pine shoot- 

 ing its branchless trunk well into the 

 air. Between the two hills trickled the 

 small stream, fed from a maple swamp 

 some distance to the north-west. The 

 nests of '96 and '97 showed no signs of 

 recent habitation, and no new nest was 

 in evidence. Three pairs of Corvus 

 americanus had full possession of the 

 grove, and we did not disturb them, 



