90 THE HAWKS AND OWLS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



placed iu trees, while others are situated on rocky ledges or on top of 

 shaly cliffs. Out of the fifty-eight nests found by Mr. MacFarlane forty- 

 six were placed in trees, while the remaining twelve were built along 

 the edge of steep clitfs. Those in the former site were found usually iu 

 pines [spruces] and were built in a crotch near the top. The nest is 

 formed of dry sticks and small twigs, lined with fine grass and feathers. 

 It is stated that those built on cliffs usually contain more soft material 

 for lining, giving them a compact appearance. The eggs in a set vary 

 from three to five in number. They are deposited as early as the middle 

 of May, and in thehigher latitudes fresh eggs have been secured as late 

 as the last of June. 



The Rough-legged Hawk is one of the largest, as well as one of the 

 most striking of American Hawks. It is mild and gentle in disposi- 

 tion, and even when adult may be tamed in the course of a few days 

 so that it will take food from the hand aiul allow its head and back to 

 be stroked. When caged with other species of hawks it does not as a 

 rule fight for the food, but waits until the others have finished, before 

 it begins to eat. The most wonderful exception to this, however, and 

 <me hard to credit, is related by Mr. E. W. Nelson, as follows ; "A friend 

 of the writer's, living on a farm in jSTortheastern Illinois anuised himself 

 one spring by trapping various birds of prey as they passed north, 

 using his emptj^ corncrib as a bird-house. Into this, in rapid succession, 

 were introduced Red-tailed, Sharp shinned, Cooper's, Broad-winged, 

 and Rough-legged Hawks, with a single Horned Owl. As might be ex- 

 pected, the family was by no means a hajjpy one, and as my fiiend 

 failed to in'ovide a sufficient supply of food, the oavI made use of his 

 fellow prisoners, and in a very few days the owl and a black Rough- 

 legged Hawk — the handsomest specimen I ever saw — were the only 

 occupants of the crib. The next act in the tragedy closed with the 

 Rough legged Hawk perching (piietly in his usual corner, while the 

 badly used up form of Bubo lay among tlie bones of its victims." (Report 

 Nat. Hist. Collections in Alaska, 1887 p. U3.) 



The flight of the Rough-leg is seldom rapid and often appears labored 

 and when on the wing, this hawk resembles the Osprey more than any 

 other bird of prey. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Legs densely feathered in front and on sides down to base of toes. 

 Width of bill at corners of mouth 1.35 to 1.45 inches (33 to 36'""'). 

 Head and neck whitish, streaked witli dnsk3\ Above, irregularly 

 varied with white, grayish, dusky, or rusty; base of tail and feathers 

 covering its upj)er surface, white; broad band near end of tail, grayish 

 or dusky. Below, whitish, usually with a band of dusky across front. 

 Specimens are sometimes nearly uniform black. 



Length: 19.50 to 23.50 .inches (495 to 597'""^); extent, 50 to 54 inches 

 (lliTO to 1370"""); wing, 15.75 to 18 inches (400 to 457"^"'); tail, 9 io 

 1 1 inches (228 to 280"^"^). 



