52 



TWO ATLANTIC COAST ISLANDS 



The attachment of Fish Hawks for their home has often 

 been commented on and there are many illustrations of it on 

 Gardiner 's Island. The nests built in cedars, in time break 

 the tree, when the birds build a new nest on the ruins of the 

 old one. In one instance, a tall tree, standing alone in a field, 



had held a Fish Hawk 's nest 

 for as many years as one 

 could remember. During a 

 storm it fell and the nest was 

 scattered over the ground. 

 The birds then attempted to 

 build a new nest on the 

 nearly horizontal trunk of 

 the tree, at its junction with 

 the stump, to which it was 

 still slightly attached; but 

 as fast as the sticks were 

 brought they fell to the 

 ground a few feet below, 

 where a pile of them bore 

 testimony to the birds' fail- 

 ure to comprehend the new 

 conditions by which they 

 were confronted. 

 Eggs are not laid until seven or eight weeks after the 

 birds' arrival from the south; a delay which, in view of the 

 abundant food supply, it is difficult to explain. The period 

 of incubation is said to be four weeks, June 2 being the 

 earliest date on which I have found young. 



The young are in the nest about six weeks. They are 

 under the immediate care of the female, who is almost con- 

 stantly with them while the male occupies a perch near by. 

 While both birds whistle shrilly when one is near the nest, ii 

 is exceptional for them to make any show of defending their 

 young by actual attack. I have never been threatened by 

 the beach-nesting birds, but one, which occupied a tree, 

 dived at me repeatedly when I climbed to the nest, coming 

 uncomfortably near at each swoop. 



A Crackle's Nest in the Side of 

 a Fish Hawk's Nest 



