° 1918 J Jensen, Nesting Birds of Wahpeton, N. D. 345 



Tympanuchus americanus. Prairie Hen. — I only found one nest 

 of this species. On June 3 it contained eleven nearly fresh eggs, and was 

 made of dry grass and a few feathers of the owner. It was quite open and 

 easy to locate. 



Circus hudsonius. Marsh Hawk. — Very common and in evidence 

 from morning to night. On prairie land west of the city I found several 

 nests, sometimes only a few hundred feet apart. The nests were quite 

 well made of grass and weeds, generally raised one or two inches above the 

 ground. Most of them contained five eggs. One nest I located on May 27 

 was raised thirteen inches above the level of the prairie and could be seen 

 from quite a distance. It contained a set of seven eggs. Another found 

 June 3 held a set of five fresh eggs, some of which were distinctly marked 

 with brown. 



Accipiter cooperi. Cooper's Hawk. — Nests quite commonly in the 

 timber along the river and even in the small artificial groves near the farms. 

 On May 20 I located two nests with four and five eggs respectively. Both 

 were typical and both were placed in elm trees less than twenty feet from 

 the ground. 



Buteo borealis krideri. Krider's Hawk. — On May 6 I collected a 

 s'et of two fresh eggs from a nest placed in an elm tree near the river. The 

 nest was up about forty feet. The eggs are white, boldly marked with light 

 brown spots. 



Falco sparverius sparverius. Sparrow Hawk. — This pretty little 

 hawk seems to be quite common wherever there is an opportunity to find 

 a suitable nesting site. On April 15 a pair were investigating some martin 

 boxes I had set up in the spring of 1916. I then made two boxes more 

 suitable for the hawks, and both were accepted. One placed near the 

 Indian School contained on May 14 a set of five fresh eggs, and the other 

 placed on a little island in the river had a set of five on May 23. 



Asio wilsonianus. Long-eared Owl. — On May 20 I discovered an 

 owl of this species in an old crow's nest in a little grove about three miles 

 northwest of the city. I found five heavily incubated eggs in the nest. 

 The owl stayed on the nest until I was only a few feet below it. 



Asio accipitrinus. Short-eared Owl. — Walking across a last year's 

 wheat field on May 20, I flushed one of these owls from a nest with seven 

 almost fresh eggs. On June 1 I found another nest containing four fresh 

 eggs, but a horse had stepped in the nest and broken them. A few days 

 later I found another nest in the same field which contained two fresh eggs, 

 but these were also destroyed. 



Otus asio asio. Screech Owl. — This little owl seems to be very 

 common, and I have seen several, mostly on the little island in the river. 

 On May 27 I found a Flicker nesting in a hole in a dead stump and under 

 the tree were the shells of several eggs of the Screech Owl. A few days 

 before I had found a dead Screech Owl near the same spot. 



Ceryle alcyon alcyon. Belted Kingfisher. — Very common along 

 the river, and one or more nest holes can be seen in almost every steep 

 bank on both the North Dakota and Minnesota side. 



