•2 1 8 Allen on the Breeding Hcibi/s of the Fish Haxvk. [October 



killed the Crow and placed the wing in the nest as a warning to 

 the many marauding Crows whicli visited the island daily to rob 

 the nests of the Night Heron and other birds breeding there. In- 

 deed, I found a few Hawks' nests that had been robbed, but no 

 Crow had molested this one. 



In the swamp near the Fish Hawks' nests was a colony of Night 

 Herons, nesting in the smaller trees near the swamp. Almost 

 daily a flock of Crows from Connecticut were accustomed to rob 

 this heronry, covering the gi'ound with the shells of the eggs they 

 had eaten, and occasionally treating a few Fish Hawks' nests in 

 the same way. The Fish Hawks seemed to unjustly accuse the 

 Herons of the robbery, as the Herons were constantly persecuted 

 by the Hawks. Whenever a Heron appeared he was instantly 

 set upon by one or more of them, and the Herons would seek 

 safety in the thick underbrush where the Hawks could not follow 

 them. Herons were killed, however, almost daily by the Hawks. 



The lighthouse keeper gave the date of the arrival of the Fish 

 Hawks as early in April, the time varying but a few days from 

 year to year, the males coming first, followed two or three days 

 later by the fenjales. I always found that by June 21 most of the 

 nests had their full complement of eggs, and some sets were more 

 or less incubated. The numlier in the set varied from one to 

 four, usually numbering two or three, though I once found five. 

 The eggs also vary greatly in color ; some are of an almost uni- 

 form dark chocolate brown, varying in places to brownish black. 

 In most instances the ground color was a creamy or bluish green, 

 thickly spotted and blotched with various shades of purplish 

 brown and dark chocolate brown, the latter prevailing about the 

 larger end. Certain nests had the local reputation of always hav- 

 ing one or more white eggs in them. In 1879 I found a nest in 

 a high oak containing one so-called white ^'g%. In 18S1 I found 

 in the same nest two white eggs and one that was beautifully 

 mottled. In each instance the Fish Hawk was found on the nest. 

 I have found nests with one white ^^^ and two of the usual color- 

 ation ; also one nest (in a tree) where all three eggs were with- 

 out trace of any markings. The parent bird had been incubating 

 the set for a week and was often seen on the nest. I also 

 bought a set of three unmarked eggs taken from the same nest the 

 previous year. 



On approaching some of the nests the old birds silently left them 



