THE WHITE-TAILED HAWK. 235 



able nesting site, and no attempt was made to conceal the nest. In most 

 cases it was very prominent, and could be seen for a long distance. I ex- 

 amined fifteen; they were all placed in low bushes, generally not higher 

 than 6 feet, In a few cases I had to stand upon the wagon to reach them 

 They were composed of sticks, dry weeds, and grasses. A coarse dry grass 

 entered largely into the composition of most of them. They were poorly 

 constructed, but moderately hollowed, and usually lined with a few green 

 twigs and leaves. Taken as a whole, the nests looked ragged in outline and 

 slovenly finished. About one nest in four contained three eggs, the rest but 

 two. This Hawk is wary and difficult of approach at all times. They 

 would leave their nests as soon as we came in sight, sometimes when still 

 half a mile away, and generally they kept entirely out of sight. An occa- 

 sional pair sailed high over our heads, uttering a faint cry while we were 

 at their nest. Only a single one came within range of our guns. The 

 earliest date on which eggs were found was March 5; the latest April 25." 

 During the spring of 1884 Captain Goss's collector took eggs of this species 

 on February 1, and in 1885 as late as July 4. Only one nest was 11 feet 

 from the ground; the others were all lower, generally from 4 to 8 feet up. 

 Nothing is mentioned about the food of this species by any of our 

 ornithologists who have met with it in southern Texas. Mr. W. H. Hudson 



O 



says, in speaking of the habits of the White-tailed Hawk in the Argentine 

 Republic: "I have dissected a great many and found nothing but Coleop- 

 terous insects in their stomachs; indeed they would not be able to keep in 

 such large companies when traveling if they required a nobler prey. At 

 the end of one summer, a flock numbering about one hundred birds appeared 

 at an 'estancia' near my home, and though very frequently disturbed they 

 remained for about three months roosting at night on the plantation trees 

 and' passing the day, scattered about the adjacent plain, feeding on grass- 

 hoppers and beetles. This flock left when the weather turned cold; but at 

 another 'estancia' a flock appeared later in the season and remained all 

 winter. The birds became so reduced in flesh that after every cold rain or 

 severe frost numbers were found dead under the trees where they roosted; 

 and in that way most of them perished before the return of spring." 1 



The usual number of eggs laid by this species is two; sets of three are 

 not uncommon however, and occasionally but a single egg seems to be laid. 

 The eggs are large for the size of the bird. Nidification, some seasons at 

 least, begins very early, full sets of eggs having been taken on February 1, 

 1884, and again it is protracted well into July, as several fresh sets of eggs 

 in the collection here attest. This may have been caused by repeatedly 

 robbing them of their eggs, or perhaps they raise two broods in a season. 



The eggs of the White-tailed Hawk are dull dirty white in color, faintly 

 and sparingly marked with irregular small blotches of pale brown and drab. 

 An occasional specimen shows a few small lavender shell markings also. 



'Argentine Ornithology, Vol. II, 1^89, p. 61. 



