92 



THE OOLOGI8T 



I saw a pair of Goshawks fly past low 

 down just over the tree top. This hol- 

 low or valley is all wooded and there 

 was a chance they were located there 

 somewhere. I searched quite thor- 

 oughly about the head of this valley 

 and found two large and likely look- 

 ing nests for future reference. Also 

 paid a visit to a larg^e maple that is 

 sometimes used by Mrs. Barred O'wi. 

 I found her at home on one egg. 



Three days later I searched the hol- 

 low quite thoroughly taut saw no sign 

 of the hawks and found that Mrs. Owl 

 had only laid 2 eggs, although 3 is 

 the usual number here. 



On April 4th the ground, trees, 

 brush and all was covered with snow. 

 I visited the big nests and some 

 smaller ones that I had found but 

 without seeing anything of the Ha^wks. 

 Rains, snow and generally bad 

 weather interefered with my plans 

 then and not until April 25th did 1 get 

 after them again. This was a fine 

 day, quite warm and sunny. I went up 

 through the hollow again but nothing 

 stirring at the nests. I did hear 

 Pileated Woodpecker in one part of 

 the woods where I had noticed them 

 before this spring and one week later 

 I visited this vicinity and after a 

 short search found the nest in a big 

 beech with a dead top, also found a 

 Cooper's Hawk at home at one of the 

 big nests, but left this for my next 

 trip which will include a camera. 



Over the ridge from the stream is a 

 quite large stream about 7 miles long 

 flowing through an entirely uninhabit- 

 ed region. There are small branches 

 or spring runs flowing into this 

 stream and about the heads of some 

 of these heavily wooded ravines, I 

 turned my search. About the head of 

 one of these ravines as I was moving 

 slowly along 1 came upon a couple of 

 black squirrels, so sat down a few 

 minutes to rest and watch them. 



While sitting there a Goshawk began 

 calling just to one side. I looked 

 around and close by saw a large nest 

 in a beech. I walked over under it 

 and stood there. The old Hawk kept 

 up quite a fuss but came no closer. 

 While standing under the tree, I saw 

 another large and promising looking 

 nest in a beech just to one side and 

 partly hidden by several laTge hem- 

 locks. I went over and stood under 

 this one and the old Hawk at once 

 got much more excited and came quite 

 close. I shinned one of the hemlocks, 

 the old Hawk making just one ugly 

 dive at me, and got above the nest, 

 so I could look over in it. 



There I saw 4 big eggs and it 

 didn't take me long to get down out 

 of the hemlock and tackle the beech. 

 This beech was a' big smooth one and 

 slippery as glass and a tough propo- 

 sition to shin. On my way up the old 

 bird made a fuss and occasionally 

 made a dive for me, coming so close 

 tliat it seemed sure there would be a 

 collision between her and my head. 

 She didn't seem quite so vicious 

 though, as tliose on former occasions. 

 The male must have been on a long 

 forging trip for he did not appear at 

 all on the scenery while I was there. 

 I expected that the eggs would be 

 just about ready to hatch so 1 took 

 one out of the nest and with the point 

 of my knife blade I pecked a small 

 hole in which I felt around with a 

 thin sliver of wood. Although badly 

 incubated they were not near so far 

 along as I had feared. I knew they 

 could be saved nicely so I took them 

 along and arrived home several hours 

 later richer by a good set of 4 Gos- 

 liawk. 



Tliis nest was 40 feet from the 

 ground in a large beech in heavy 

 mixed woods and was at least 3 miles 

 from the nearest farm or clearing. The 

 nest was large and quite a bulky 



