181 



result we read' of great iuvasious of voles (meadow 

 mice) which ruin a vast amouut of property. 



If the persecution of the hawk and owl tribe in tiiis 

 country is not checked, we may expect sucn ruinous 

 in\asions of these sleek-co^Tted rodents. 



THE NEST AND EGGS. 



Nest building generally occurs in March and lasts 

 from eight to fifteen days. The nest is built in the 

 woods, commonly on a large oak or hickory tree. A 

 pair of these hawks resorted for five consecutive years 

 to a large oak tree for nesting purposes, in a belt of 

 timber adjacent to the far-famed Deborah's Rock, 

 East Bradford township. The nest, a rather bulky 

 structure, is made, externally, of sticks and twigs, 

 some of the former being an inch in thickness; inter- 

 nally, it is lined with leaves and the inner layer of 

 bark— usually from oak and chestnut trees. This 

 lining of bark is frequently torn in shreds. 



Certain ornitBolc.gists, Audubon among the number, 

 have found five eggs in their nests. I have, however, 

 mostly found two, and on no occasion have I found 

 more than three to constitute the full complement. 



The eggs, about 2.40 by 1.85 inches, vary much in 

 their markings. Their ground color is a dull white or 

 rusty white, marked with minute brown spots, or with 

 large purplish dark-brown blotches, often covering the 

 greater part of the egg. Incubation lasts about three 

 weeks. Certain writers claim that this species will 

 boldly defend invasion of its home on the ])art of man. 

 Such may have been the experience of others, but such 

 statement is the reverse of rty experience. I have 

 taken both eggs and young, and. as yet. T have en- 

 countered no opposition: but have found them coward 

 ly, flying away, in fact, beyond gunshot at mv ap- 



