i'jji3 ' I Cameron, Votea on Swainson's Haul:. 171 



due to my occasional visits, bu1 to the fact that during the whole 

 summer a boy herded a large bunch of horses outside the fence — 

 u pari of which had been taken down to enable the animals to 

 come to water. In a Cottonwood tree, directly above i Im- water, 

 the buzzards bad placed their nest, and in ordinary circumstances 

 would have enjoyed a welcome shade. As it happened, however, 

 tliis particular tree had been blighted by the unprecedented bliz- 

 zard of May 20, and remained almost leafless till August, when to 

 my great surprise it was again covered with foliage. Until this 



happened the lni/./.ard family suffered terribly from the sun's rays, 



and convincing testimony was afforded of the parents' devotion 



in shading their offspring. The nest was made entirely of cotton- 



wood sticks, lined with grass roots. With characteristic indiscre- 

 tion the birds had chosen a decidedly perilous situation, as the 

 herd l><>\ above mentioned passed directly by the nesting tree, often 



with a companion, four times a day, besides Spending nearly all 



hi time in its immediate vicinity. He naively informed me that, 



before i discovered the nest, he had frequently stoned the illCU- 



bating Hawk, but without, causing her to forsake her eggs. She 

 began to lay about June M, sat on three typical eggs — two of them 

 brown marked, one pure white hut infertile — and on .Inly 9, two 

 nestlings were hatched. A fortnigh.1 later, black feathers appeared 



amidst their white down, and by the end of July they were full 



feathered except for their downy heads. The young birds as 

 soon as they were able, sat about in the branches, but returned to 

 the nesl at night, and also on hot days, during which the parents 

 shaded them. The presence of my wife and self beneath the low 

 tree, or our loud talking, made no difference to the mother's solici- 

 tude for their comfort. In my experience the female Swainson's 

 Hawk is one of the boldest and tamest birds at the nest, in marked 

 Contradistinction to her timid partner, which can seldom he ob- 

 served a1 close range in the breeding season. The nestlings have 

 enormous appetites, and consume more in proportion to their size 



than any other raptorial bird which I have studied or kept in con- 

 finement. When hungry they set up a piercing kitten-like cry 

 Until they are supplied with food. 



In 1909, the same hoy herded the horses, and exactly the same 



conditions prevailed for the hawks, which commenced nesting 



