FALCONID^ — THE FALCONS. 309 



Wilson, Audubon, and Nuttall appear to have known nothing in regard 

 to the breeding of the Rough-legged Hawk. A pair was seen by Eichardson 

 at their nest, which was built of sticks, and on a lofty tree standing on 

 a low moist alluvial point of land, in a bend of the Saskatchewan ; but they 

 were too wary to be shot, and he makes no mention of their eggs. 



My nephews, H. E. and F. H. Storer, found a pair of Eough-legged Hawks 

 nesting on a rocky cliff' on the coast of Labrador, near the harbor of Bras 

 d'Or. The nest was very rudely constructed of sticks, and placed on a high 

 rock directly over the water, inaccessible from below, but readily approached 

 from above. It contained three young birds and an egg. The young 

 Hawks were just ready to fly, and all scrambled out as the nest was ap- 

 proached, and rolled the egg to the bottom of the cliff", but without injuring 

 it. The nest contained four or five large rats peculiar to that region, col- 

 lected by the old bird§ ibr their young. The old birds were in the light 

 plumage. At the same time a young bird was taken alive from another 

 nest by one of the sailors of their party, which was quite black even in its 

 immature dress, and strikingly different from the young just mentioned. 



Mr. MacFarlane's very complete and careful notes mention, in detail, no 

 less than fifty-eight nests of this species as procured and identified by his 

 party. Of these, forty-six were built on trees, generally spoken of as being 

 large pines, and usually about twenty feet from the ground. Twelve nests 

 were found built on the edge of steep cliffs of shaly mud on the banks of 

 creeks, rivers, and lakes. 



The nests that were taken from trees are described as having been built 

 in a crotch, not far from the top, and to have been formed externally of dry 

 twigs, sticks, and small branches, warmly lined witli down, feathers, and fine 

 hay. Those found upon cliffs and high river-banks were made of similar 

 materials, but usually with a smaller base of sticks, and a greater supply of 

 hay, moss, and other soft materials. The number of eggs varied from three 

 to five, never more than the latter, and were at times in differing stages 

 of incubation in the same nest. Whenever the nest was approached, the 

 parent birds always manifested great uneasiness, and uttered vociferous 

 screams of distress. The eggs were generally found from the 27th of May 

 to the 25th of June. Those taken after the 20th of June usually con- 

 tained well-developed embryos. The species was met with by j\'Ir. Mac- 

 Farlane in great abundance in various localities, — near Fort Anderson, 

 lower down on the Anderson Eiver, near the Arctic coast, ami in the vicinity 

 of Eendezvous Lake. 



One of the Indians collecting for Mr. MacFarlane informed him that on the 

 9th of June he discovered the nest of one of these Hawks on a ledge of 

 shaly mud. As he could not kill the parents, he set a snare about the nest. 

 Going to it later in the day, he was disappointed at finding his snare set 

 aside, the eggs gone, and the birds not to be seen. He presumed the parents 

 had removed the eggs, of which there had been three, to a safer place. 



