THE MEXICAN BLACK HAWK. 



249 



Asst, Surg. Edgar A. Mearns, U. S. Army, published tlie following account, 

 comprising about all we know as yet about the nesting habits of this spe.-i.-, 

 within our borders. He says: "When hunting along a sluice of the Verde 

 River, beneath a dense growth of willows and cotton woods, I first discovered 

 the Anthracite or Mexican Black Hawk, perched among the thickest foliage of 

 a low willow overhanging the shallow water. The imperfect view obtained :is 

 it flew off through the trees led me at first to suppose that it was an immature 

 Golden Eagle, a species that I had several times encountered thereabouts in 

 similar situations. A snap shot proved unsuccessful, as \v;is the rase on several 

 subsequent occasions, and, although I frequently saw them along the river, it 

 was long ere I succeeded in procuring a specimen. Always extremely shy, they 

 were usually found hidden in the foliage near the water in some low situation, 

 whence, when surprised, they generally managed to escape through the foliage 

 of the cottonwoods without affording a good opportunity for a shot. Their 

 flight is 'swift and powerful. Occasionally one was seen eating a fish upon the 

 sandy margin of the river. They were present throughout the summer, but 

 departed in the autumn, my absence in the field during the months of October 

 and November having prevented me from determining the date of departure. 



"On the 26th of March, 1885, I found one of these Hawks upon the Agua 

 Fria, about 30 miles southwest of Fort Verde, at a considerably greater alti- 

 tude; and on Oak Creek, a mountain stream 30 miles north of Fort Verde, in 

 the foothills of the San Francisco Mountains, I wounded an immature example 

 on the 12th of August of the same year, it having probably been reared on 

 that stream, which abounds with trout and other fishes. 



"On the l!)th of June, 1885, Capt. T. A. Baldwin and I set out to visit 

 Fossil Creek, 30 miles east of Fort Verde, with an escort of two soldiers. We 

 carried some rations and mining implements packed upon a mule and two 

 burros. We found the trail to the canon without difficulty, but when nearly 

 at the bottom took the wrong fork of the trail, which finally led us to the 

 spring and forks of Fossil Creek, both branches of which we explored for 

 several miles, finding tracks of wolves, bears, deer, raccoons, and beavers. A 

 pair of Mexican Black Hawks were found at the forks of the stream close 

 to the place where we had pitched our camp. Their loudly whistled cry 

 is different from that of any bird of prey with which I am acquainted, and 

 is difficult to describe, although rendered with great power. 



"They circled about us a few times, then retreated to some tall pinons 

 upon the hillside, where they continued to cry vehemently until I essayed 

 to force my way through the thick scrub oak towards them, when both birds 

 flew with loud screams to a tall pine tree down the stream, where I suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining a long shot at the male bird, which, although mortally 

 wounded, flew beyond my reach before dropping to the ground. His male 

 flew to the pinons far up the steep banks of the canon, out of reach, and 

 continued screaming, following me up the canon. Towards nightfall I came 



