36 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
This Hawk is very destructive among domestic poultry, 
and is generally regarded with dislike. I have known of 
instances when he has almost completely depopulated a 
poultry-yard before he could be captured. 
It is the custom of the Hawk, when he has once had a 
taste of a flock of fowls, to visit it regularly every day at 
about the same time; sometimes in the afternoon, oftener 
in the morning. 
The moment his cry is heard, the shrill alarm of the cock 
is given, when the hens run hither and thither, cackling, 
and adding to their own affright; the guinea-fowls rattle 
their discordant notes ; the mother with her chickens becomes 
almost frantic in her efforts to protect her young from 
the inevitable destroyer. In the midst of this clatter, the 
pirate who has been its sole cause comes on eager wing, 
and, selecting the fattest of the flock, pounces upon it, and, 
with scarcely an effort, bears it off to feast his mate and 
young. The Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa wmbellus) and Com- 
mon Hare (Lepus Americanus) both fall victims; and the 
number he destroys is very great. 
The Red-Tailed Hawk builds its nest in a lofty fork of a 
large tree. The nest is one of the largest of our rapacious 
birds, —in one case, to my knowledge, exceeding two feet 
in width and twenty inches in depth. It is constructed of 
large sticks and twigs; is but slightly hollowed; and is 
lined with smaller twigs, leaves, and moss. The eggs are 
generally three in number, seldom more: their ground- 
color is a dirty yellowish-white, with blotches of a yellow- 
ish-brown, and sometimes distinct blotches of a darker 
brown. Their form varies from nearly spherical to ovoidal ; 
but they are, in general, nearly as large at one end as at the 
other. Dimensions of specimens vary from 2.12 to 2.25 
inches in length, by from 1.68 to 2 inches in breadth. 
Three eggs that I took from a nest in the southern part 
of Ohio, early in the month of April, measure 2.18 by 1.62; 
2.14 by 1.70; and 2.20 by 2 inches, — averaging a little 
