CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 225 
BREEDING Noies.—In the vicinity of Ottawa this species gen- 
erally builds about the end of May or first of June in a hemlock 
tree about 20 feet from the ground. The nest is made of dry 
sticks lined with some kind of soft bark and nearly resembles a 
crow’s nest. The eggs, four or five in number, are white with a 
slight purplish tint marked with splashes of various shades of 
brown. (G. 2. White.) This species breeds, in small numbers only, 
in the vicinity of London, Ont. The nest is usually in pine trees 
and the eggs four to six. (W.Z. Saunders.) A nest of this species 
was taken at the corner of Dow’s swamp near the canal close to 
the city of Ottawa, July 6, 1900. It was in a balsam fir about 
fifteen feet from the ground, built of sticks and lined with cedar 
bark, (Zhauya occidentalis). This species is quite common in 
-Assiniboia, and a number of nests were taken in June, 1895. On 
June 12th a nest was taken ina willow thicket at the police station, 
Wood Mountain. It was in the crotch of a willow less than ten 
feet from the ground, built of sticks and lined inside with finer 
material of the same character. There were four eggs partly 
incubated, light greenish incolour and heavily spotted with brown. 
Another nest in a spruce tree was taken, built of the same class 
of material, on Farewell Creek, Cypress Hills, June 27th. In this 
nest the eggs were half incubated. (JZacoun.) I have clutches of 
eggs of this little hawk taken near Toronto, also others taken in 
Muskoka, Manitoba and Assiniboia. It builds its nest in tree 
tops and lays from four to six handsomely marked eggs. (W. 
Raine.) his bird has always been regarded as a rare summer 
resident near London, Ont., but during the summer of 1900 six 
nests were found by three observers and it may prove to be more 
common than was supposed. Its silent unobtrusive manner may 
have been its shield from observation. These nests, as well as 
four others taken in previous years, were all in conifers, five of 
the ten being in tamarac. All of them were built of twigs and 
many had a few flakes of bark as a lining. One nest was on an old 
foundation but all the others were entirely new. In height from 
the ground they varied from 15 to 30 feet. The birds were in 
some cases fairly silent and peaceful, and in others very noisy 
and aggressive, in one case particularly the male would attack a 
man 100 yards distant, although the nest was not found. All the 
sets of eggs taken, varying from three to six to the set, are very 
handsome, particularly one set of six fresh eggs in which the colour 
of the markings isa very bright reddish brown. (W. £. Saunders.) 
