184 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Sharp-shinned Hawk. 



My first acquaintance with the Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk began in the year 1896. 

 On May 5th I was returning from a 

 trip through the woods and pastures 

 when I carhe to a piece of hemlock 

 woods with thick undergrowth. I went 

 into them a short distance and sat down 

 on a stump lo rest. 



While sitting there I noticed a pair of 

 small Hawks (which I called Chicken 

 Hawks) flying from tree to tree utter- 

 ing sharp cries of Kilt! Kilt! Kilt! Be- 

 fore long I saw a nest in a hemlock tree 

 up about 20 feet from the ground. I 

 climbed up and found it contained 2 

 eggs. Putting them in my pockets 1 

 slid carefully to the ground and went 

 home. Two weeks later I went to the 

 woods again and found the Hawks had 

 built a now nest a few rods from the 

 old one and this contained 2 eggs. 13 

 days after I went again and found an- 

 other nest containing 2 eggs. 



From this experience I made my 

 notes: "Chicken Hawk nests in hem- 

 lock trees, nest of hemlock twigs, num- 

 ber of eggs in set two." But on send- 

 ing one of them with some other eggs 

 to the editor of the Oologist for identi- 

 ficrtion I found I was mistaken about 

 their being "Chicken Hawks." 



In 1897 C. F. Stone collected a set of 

 four May 27 in first piece of woods and 

 I collected a set of five May 17th in an- 

 other piece of hemlock woods about a 

 mile from this one. 



The first of May, 1898, I visited the 

 two pieces of woods and found the 

 Hawks had returned. On May 18th I 

 collected a set of five from first piece of 

 woods and May 28th a set of four from 

 second piece. I collected a second set 

 of four on June 18th from this last pair. 



This year I collected a set of five May 

 1st from second piece and on June 11th 

 collected a second set of four from 

 them. The first pair failed to return. 



I have invariably found a stump or 



log a few rods from the nest where 

 they eat their prey. I have found 

 feathers of the Robin, Catbird, Song 

 Sparrow, Towhee, Bluebird, Indigo 

 Bunting and several species of Warb- 

 lers. This year I found by the log the 

 shell of a Bluebird's egg, and a white 

 one which I think was that of the 

 Phoebe. 



C. N. Davis, 

 Branchport, N. Y. 



Nesting" of the Virginia Rail. 



On June 12 of this year while looking 

 for Red-winged Blackbirds' nests in a 

 swamp near this city, I stumbled upon 

 a nest of the Virginia Rail. The nest 

 was in a clump of weeds over water 

 about six inches deep and was compos- 

 ed entirely of swamp grasses woven in- 

 to a sort of platform, the bottom ^ of 

 which was on a level with the water. 

 It was shaded and concealed by some 

 reeds which had been bent over from 

 all sides, forming a sort of roof. As I 

 parted the reeds to examine the clump, 

 the bird, which was on the nest, slid 

 oft" and ran through a space of shallow, 

 open water to find shelter, thus giving 

 me a good view of her. 



The nest contained ten eggs in which 

 incubation was about half over. These 

 eggs were slightly nest stained but with- 

 al a very handsome set. In this swamp, 

 and not many yards from this same 

 spot, I took a set of six fresh eggs of this 

 bird a couple of years ago, and I also 

 heard of another nest being found near 

 by containing eight eggs. The swamp 

 is inside the city limits and close to the 

 trolley car track and right on the bank 

 of the river. 



F. Norman Beattie, 

 Guelph, Ontario. 



