362 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



tain swamps, brooks, or ponds. It is placed next to the trunk 

 of a pine, or sometimes an oak, from fifteen to seventy-five feet 

 above the ground. It is seldom built in a young tree, or in 

 one at all isolated, and is rarely concealed by surrounding foli- 

 age. Near Boston it is finished between the first week and 

 last day of April, and two, three, or four eggs, are then laid. 

 These often exhibit great variation, even when taken from the 

 same nest. Though varying in size and shape, some being 

 elongated, or somewhat pointed at the smaller end, the}' aver- 

 age about 2-20 X 1*70 of an inch. From a series in my cabi- 

 net, recently collected near Boston, the following descriptions 

 are taken. (1) White, evenly blotched and spotted with lilac. 

 (2) White, evenly but coarsely marked with a pretty reddish 

 brown. (3) White, with a few thin and vague markings of 

 chocolate. (4) Dirty white, not appreciably marked. (5) 

 Dirty white, with a very few fine scrawls at the smaller end. 

 (6) Dirty white, blotched at the smaller end with umber. (7) 

 Dirty white, clouded at the smaller end with several shades of 

 brown. (8) Dirty white, fadedly blotched, chiefly at the 

 smaller end. (9) Impure white, blotched with faint reddish 

 brown chiefly at the smaller end, and with a few dark mark- 

 ings. (10) Dirty white, faintly blotched all over, but with a 

 few chocolate spots. (11) Dirty white, blotched faintly with 

 purplish and reddish brown, but with dark blotches on the 

 crown. (12) Impure white, with a ring of reddish brown 

 blotches about the crown. Some specimens have reddish or 

 buflfy ground-colors, and others are marked but little and 

 faintly, or with a few isolated blotches. 



There is no salient point of difference between these eggs 

 and those of the " Red-tail," of which several are now before 

 me. 



(c). The Red-shouldered Buzzards, so far as I have ob- 

 served, are the commonest hawks near Boston, where they are 

 resident throughout the year. They breed from Florida nearly 

 to Hudson's Bay. Their range is therefore much less exten- 

 sive than that of the " Red-tails," but their habits and man- 

 ners are very similar. The following biography is applicable 



