232 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



and spotted with blackish; cheeks with a moustache like series of dark 

 streaks. Wing of male 10.00 to 11.00 ; wing of female 10.50 to 11.50 ; tarsus 

 2.50. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America, north to New Brunswick and the 

 Saskatchewan, west to the Plains and south to Texas ; wintering from 

 southern United States to South America and the West Indies. 



County Records. — Androscoggin ; fairly common summer resident, (John- 

 son). Aroostook; not rare summer resident, (Knight). Cumberland; com- 

 mon summer resident, (Mead). Franklin ; rare summer resident, (Swain) ; 

 common summer resident, (Sweet). Hancock; quite generally found as 

 summer resident, (Knight). Kennebec; (Royal). Knox; migrant, (Rack- 

 liff). Oxford; breeds commonly, (Nash). Penobscot; breeds quite gener- 

 ally, not so common of late years as formerly, (Knight). Piscataquis ; com- 

 mon, breeds, (Homer). Sagadahoc; common spring and fall, (Spinney). 

 Somerset; not common summer resident, (Morrell). Waldo; not rare sum- 

 mer resident, (Knight). Washington; abundant summer resident, (Board- 

 man). York; (Adams). 



They arrive from the south in early April and are all gone 

 by early October, being commonest in migrations, but also not 

 rare and generally distributed as summer residents throughout 

 the State, Though generally very quiet they will make con- 

 siderable fuss when they have a nest near at hand, lighting on 

 the trees near by or flying overhead and uttering a shrill 

 whistled "kii-e-e-e-e-". 



Both birds help to build the nest and take turns in incubat- 

 ing. Unlike many other Hawks they seem rarely to reoccupy 

 the same nest another season. The nest is the usual structure 

 of sticks and twigs, lined with bark, hemlock twigs and often 

 with green leaves and twigs of poplar, elm and basswood. 



Two to four, generally three, eggs are laid and these are 

 white, spotted, dotted and blotched with lavender, pearl gray, 

 chestnut and umber. The spots are fewer and smaller, and 

 the eggs are more finely dotted than are eggs of the Red- 

 shouldered Hawk, and the eggs of the Broad-wing are smaller, 

 measuring about 1.90 x 1.54. The birds feed on squirrels, 

 mice, shrews, moles, frogs, snakes, grasshoppers, crickets, and 

 more rarely on small birds. They may be rated as distinctly 

 beneficial. 



