42 



THE OOLOGIS'r 



vegetation except for a few weeds 

 growing from a crevice at the back 

 where a little soil had blown in. A 

 liberal supply of bones and some 

 gravel from above covered the bare 

 rock. 



In 1908, by rolling rocks over the 

 edge I scared one of the birds off 

 another ledge, which proved to be the 

 same one where the incoming bird lit 

 on my first visit to the canon. (The 

 last described location was where she 

 raised her young that year). This 

 proved to be the most inaccessible of 

 any places chosen yet, though only 60 

 feet. down. There were two overhang- 

 ing ledges with sloping tops and it was 

 impossible to see the eggs on the third 

 ledge until one was almost standing 

 in the nest. That climb took more 

 skin off my hands than any rock 

 climb I ever attempted, but the beauti- 

 ful set of three well repaid me. 



In 1909, six weeks after the first set 

 was taken, another new nesting place 

 was located about 200 feet away, but 

 the three eggs it contained appeared 

 to be pretty far along in incubation 

 and as the birds had already "done 

 their bit" they were not disturbed. 



No eggs have been taken by me 

 from these birds since 1910, nor, as 

 far as I know, by anyone, except in 

 1913, when a set was taken of which 

 I have no data. 



Some time in the winter of 1913-14 

 a pair of Eagles came back to the 

 canon, reoccupying nests that long 

 antedated my first Duck Hawk, and 

 though the latter birds still come 

 round they have not nested in the 

 canon since, and we have not yet been 

 able to relocate them. 



Of all the birds with which I have 

 had dealings, these Duck Hawks, or, 

 at least, one of them was the most ag- 

 gressive bird I ever saw. Whenever 

 anyone was near the nest one bird 

 would generally sit up on a bench.. 



would generally sit up on a high rock 

 nearby and say very impolite things 

 in a tone of voice that must have been 

 very far-reaching, for, in a few minutes 

 there would be a rush of wings and 

 the other bird would come, a blue 

 streak, whizzing down the canon like 

 a bullet, so close one could feel the 

 air from it's wings, then turn and 

 come back again and keep it up as 

 long as one were near the nest. 



On the ledge with the snake that 

 day the bird actually struck me with 

 it's wing as it passed, knocking my 

 cap off, and at each rust I full expect- 

 ed to feel it's sharp claws in my back, 

 which would not have been so pleas- 

 ant, a couple of hundred feet up in 

 the air. 



One day I watched the pair chase a 

 big male Red Tail into a tree and 

 keep him there. He was so scared 

 he would not leave the tree for over 

 an hour after the Duck Hawks had 

 gone away. There were several pairs 

 of Barn Owls nesting in the holes in 

 the cliff and one pair of Pacific Horn- 

 ed Owls. Ordinarily the Hawks would 

 not bother them, but they evidently 

 saw red when their nests were dis- 

 turbed and then the Owls and the 

 Buzzards all hunted their holes. 



I saw one unfortunate Horned Owl 

 take a nose dive to the bottom of the 

 canon one day shy a good many of it's 

 feathers and the Buzzards all went out 

 of the canon faster than they seemed 

 to want to. 



The nesting dates vary somewhat, 

 according to the nature of the season. 

 Wet late springs retarding. 



I have taken fresh eggs on March 

 24, April 9, April 11 and April 14. 



Incubation commenced on April 4. 

 Advanced on April 10, April 19. Far 

 advanced on April 8, April 10, also 

 May 13, second set, probably ad- 

 vanced. 



The young birds heard on my first 



