'^"'r.'ir'"] General Notes. 393 



that a pair of " black hawks " had taken possession ot the old nest. As 

 such birds were not common thereabouts the statement was worth look- 

 ing into. I reached the tree just before sundown and to my delight I 

 found things as represented and that one bird then occupied the nest. 

 It w-as black sure enough, and resented interference with many angry 

 screams as it circled above the tree. It proved to be a male Band-tailed 

 Buzzard {Buteo abbrevicxius). Unfortunately the female, although seen 

 at a distance, failed to respond to the cries of her mate, and what was 

 still more unfortunate the nest contained no eggs. It had been newly 

 lined with leaves from the tree and was apparently ready for housekeep- 

 ing. I waited till noon the day following in the hope of being able to 

 make a closer acquaintance with the mate of the bird I then had, but had 

 to leave without being thus privileged. 



I subsequently learned from the late Major Chas. E. Bendire that he 

 had, during the spring of 1S72, climbed this same cottonwood tree and 

 had examined the nest in question. He was at that time camped on the 

 Rillito and had, while scouting, seen the nest. Some days later, as no 

 hostile Indians were known to be about, he returned to the tree and 

 climbed to the nest, which is located in a fork of the tree about 40 feet 

 up. While examining the nest he happened to look in the direction of 

 the opposite hill and saw an Indian watching him from behind a giant 

 cactus with which the hills thereabouts are thicklj' covered. To be 

 caught meant a lingering death at the stake, to escape, under the circum- 

 stances, seemed almost impossible, but he did. He pretended not to 

 have seen the Indian and after having apparently satisfied himself about 

 the nest he slowlv descended the tree, but no sooner did his feet touch 

 the ground than he made a run for his horse which was tied a short 

 distance below. As he did so about thirty Indians gave chase, but he for- 

 tunateh' got away. — Herbert Browx, Tiuna. Arizona. 



Nesting of the American Rough-legged Hawk in North Dakota. — The 

 nesting of the American Rough-legged Hawk (Arc/iibufeo lagoftis sancti- 

 Jokatinis) within the borders of the United States is so rare an occurrence 

 that it may be worth while to record the breeding of a pair of these birds 

 in Nelson County, North Dakota, this j'ear. Our guide, Mr. Alfred 

 Eastgate, a naturalist and taxidermist of considerable experience, who is 

 quite familiar with this species, which is abundant there in winter, told 

 u'^ that the pair had nested in this vicinity for several 3'ears. We first 

 saw the nest on June 4, 1901, as we were driving along near a narrow 

 strip of timber on the edge of a lake. The nest was conspicuously located 

 in an isolated swamp oak at the end of the timber, so that it could be 

 plainly seen from a distance, and as we drew near we could see the head 

 of the hawk as she sat upon the nest. Although the nest was only thirty 

 feet from the ground the hawk would not leave it until we rapped on the 

 tree, when she flew slowly off and perched on a tree near b}' ; we had a 

 good look at her at short range which left no doubt in our minds as to the 



