FALCONS 247 



Geog. Dist.— North America east of the Rocky Mountains; breeding from 

 Florida to Great Slave Lake and Hudson Bay ; wintering from New Jersey to 

 South America. 



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

 son). Aroostook; seen at Fort Fairfield, (Batchelder, B. N. O. C. 7, p. 15) ; 

 several seen at Caribou, (Allen, J. M. O. S. 1901, p. 10). Cumberland; rare, 

 (Mead) ; have information of its breeding in Windham, (Norton) ; common 

 in migration, an adult male at Yarmouth, Jan. 10, 1904, (Lord), Franklin; 

 summer resident, (Richards). Hancock; summer resident, (Murch). Ken- 

 nebec ; seen in April, 1906, between Augusta and Winthrop, (Knight) . Knox ; 

 migrant, (Rackliff). Oxford; common, breeds, (Nash). Penobscot; quite 

 common in migration some years, not seen others, the eggs have been taken 

 near Bangor, (Knight). Piscataquis; common, breeds, (Homer). Sagadahoc; 

 common spring and fall, (Spinney). Somerset; not common summer resi- 

 dent, (Morrell). Waldo; observed in spring, (Newell). Washington; not 

 uncommon summer resident, (Boardman). York; (Adams). 



The usual time of arrival in spring is about April twentieth, 

 sometimes slightly earlier and in fall all are gone by October 

 fifteenth. It has once been noted here on January tenth, 

 which is exceptional. A few scattered pair breed in almost 

 every county of the state, preferring to frequent the stub 

 bordered shores of ponds and rivers, clearings in the woods 

 and the telegraph poles along the highways on which they 

 may frequently be seen perched. They like to perch on some 

 conspicuous dead limb, telegraph pole or other spot from 

 which they have a good view of the surrounding country. 



The nest is always placed in a hole in a tree, stub or post, 

 either the deserted cavity of a Woodpecker or some natural 

 cavity being used. The four to six eggs are laid on the chips 

 and rotten wood at the bottom. The eggs are pure white, 

 sometimes only sparsely, but more often very abundantly and 

 both finely or heavily and boldly dotted, spotted, blotched 

 and marbled with brown, chestnut, ochraceous, rufous and red- 

 dish. 



The eggs vary exceedingly regarding distribution and fine- 

 ness or coarseness of the markings, some being uniformly 

 dotted over the entire surface and others only at one end, in 

 such cases the markings being often larger and more blotchy. 



