FALCO NISSUS. 101 



two with five eggs, the other with one, all on spruce firs, about 

 the middle of the strips of wood. So out of five nests, the same 

 year, I got four of them with five eggs each — the other in course of 

 laying — which proves the usual number laid. These notes being 

 written at the time, and all the nests personally inspected, is 

 sufficient data for the number of eggs and time in laying, 

 although I have got eggs in June. From another note — "May 

 14, 1864, I got a nest on a Scotch fir tree in Kinglassie wood, 

 about three miles from St Andrews. The bird flew off when I 

 struck the tree; I climbed up, and found three fresh eggs. 

 There were two old nests — one above the other, like carrion 

 crow's or wood pigeon's. The top one, in w T hich I got the eggs, 

 was a new formation, built on and above the second one. The 

 twigs were quite fresh, newly arranged, no lining inside but 

 some smaller twigs, and the never-failing few chips of fir tree 

 bark, which, on inspecting the tree, could not have fallen in by 

 chance, and seemed to be a characteristic of the hawk's nest. 

 It was quite shallow, 12 inches across and only 1J deep in the 

 hollow — not much larger than a wood pigeon's. I took the three 

 eggs, and went back next Saturday, the 21st ; the hawk, more 

 wary this time, slipped off before I approached. There was one 

 egg in the nest, which I left, and never went back to disturb 

 her incubation." 



To prove that the hawk lays again in the same nest after 

 being harried, I give the following fact told by the young man 

 who did it: — "In the beginning of May 1860, at Lathockar 

 Wood, about four miles from St Andrews, a young lad who 

 lived in the district, and attending Madras College, harried a 

 hawk's nest on Saturday, the 10th. He took the three eggs and 

 brought them to St Andrews on the 12th, and gave them to his 

 schoolfellows, who were collecting eggs (a rage at that time). 

 Being at school all week he went next Saturday and found 

 other three eggs in the nest, which he also took. This he 

 repeated for five consecutive Saturdays, and took fifteen eggs 

 from the same nest — no doubt all layed by the same bird." This 

 shows with what tenacity the sparrow-hawk clings to her nest, 

 which it would not likely do if its eggs were layed in the nest 

 of another bird. 



About fifty years ago, in May 1842, I was standing in the 

 outskirts of a large wood, called " Stravithie Wood," all since 

 cut down. Suddenly I heard the hoarse caw ! of a carrion crow. 

 Then another and another caw ! caw ! until it seemed that a host 

 of carrion crows were assembling above my head. Their deep 



