86 



THE OOLOOISl 



attempting to drive a grouse out of 

 some laurel. The loud screams of the 

 hawk and the distressed cries of the 

 grouse attracted my attention, and I 

 shot the hawk which was a female, 

 and undoubtedly breeding. 



Last Spring in May, while rambling 

 about in the largest tract of virgin for- 

 est in this region, I came upon a 

 pair of very excited Goshawks. They 

 constantly screamed and at times dart- 

 ed straight at me, only sheering off 

 when close by. No amount of search- 

 ing revealed the nest, but as there 

 was any amount of giant hemlock, the 

 nest could easily have been hidden. 



I was now convinced that a Gos- 

 hawk's nest was still a possibility and 

 determined to look for them in the 

 big four mile timber. However, I was 

 to be favored by fortune and did not 

 have to search through the remotest 

 and wildest part of our country. Febr- 

 uary 22d, I took a long tramp during 

 the course of which I passed through 

 a basin about the head of a mountain 

 stream some four and a half miles 

 from Warren. This basin lies at a\ 

 elevation of about nineteen hundred 

 feet, and is nearly on top of the moun- 

 tain. The region is heavily timbered 

 with immense pines and hemlocks, 

 and a good sprinkling of beech. In. 

 the densest part of the basin or flat, 

 I heard the loud call of a Goshawk, 

 then saw the bird alight in a big pine. 

 Going that way, the hawk again made 

 a short flight; and about that time I 

 noticed a large nest in a pine about 

 where the hawk started from. As I 

 looked at the nest, the old bird stay- 

 ed nearby and called. Its actions 

 were exactly like a Sharpshinned 

 Hawk, when the nesting site is ap- 

 proached. I at once left the vicinity 

 and did not again visit it until March 

 9th, when on quietly approaching the 

 hawk again appeared, and alighting 

 close by, screamed loudly. Visits 



on the 14th and 19th still found her 

 guarding the nest. So on the 20th, 1 

 determined to go up and see for my- 

 self just what the nest looked like. 

 Arriving at the tree, I shed all extra 

 toggle, and after a tough climb peer 

 ed into the nest and found it all finish- 

 ed and ready for eggs. Twice on my 

 way up the old hawk dove at me like 

 a bullet and the swish of wings par.t 

 my head warned me that it was her 

 nest all right. 



April 2d, in company with my friend, 

 Mr. Norman Spencer, a sort of cam- 

 era fiend, and an expert with the 

 climbing irons, I started for the nest. 

 It turned into a bad day. There was 

 several inches of snow, and it was 

 snowing all morning, so that we were 

 a little afraid of the picture part of 

 the program. 



On the way to the nest we saw five 

 Lesser Scaup on a reservoir about two 

 miles back in the mountains. We 

 tried them with the camera, bur the 

 resulting picture was very poor. My 

 gun did much better work, and the re- 

 sult was, we took the five ducks along 

 with us. 



We approached the nest quietly and 

 on rapping the tree with a rock, the 

 old lady flew off. We expected trou- 

 ble, but tliroughout the operation, nei- 

 ther hawk came close, but sat about 

 in the big pine and screamed occa- 

 sionally. 



Spencer, who is an expert lineman, 

 put on his hooks and soon reached the 

 nest. Peering in he called down 

 "three nice ones." I was more than 

 well pleased as two would have satis- 

 fied me. The nest was sixty feet up 

 in a white pine, at a point where the 

 trunk sort of bent out, then continued 

 on up. 



At this place several smaller limbs 

 grew out; also one quite large limb. 

 About six feet above the nest a large 

 strong limb put out. To this limb 



