THE PIGEON HAWK. 3QJ 



along 1 the Anderson Rivor to near the Arctic coast of Liverpool Hay. Sev- 

 eral of their nests had apparently been built on pine trees and others on 

 ledges of shaly cliffs. The former were composed externally of a few dry 

 willow twigs and internally of withered hay or grasses, etc.; and the latter 

 had only a very few decayed leaves under the eggs. In one instance the 

 oviduct of a female contained an egg almost ready for extrusion; it was 

 colored like the others, but the pigment was still so soft that it adhered 

 to the fingers on being touched. * * * Other specimens taken from the 

 oviduct were perfectly white. 



"I would also mention the following interesting circumstance: On May 

 25, 1864, a trusty Indian in my employ found a nest placed in the midst 

 of a thick branch of a pine tree at a height of about 6 feet from the 

 ground. It was rather loosely constructed of a few dry sticks and a small 

 quantity of coarse hay; it then contained two eggs; both parents were seen, 

 fired at, and missed. On the 31st he revisited the nest, which still held but 

 two eggs, and again missed the birds. Several days later he made another 

 visit thereto, and, to his surprise, the eggs and parents had disappeared. His 

 first impression was that some other person had taken them; after looking 

 carefully around he perceived both birds at a short distance, and this led 

 him to institute a search which soon resulted in finding that the eggs must 

 have been removed by the parent birds to the face of a muddy bank at 

 least 40 yards distant from the original nest. A few decayed leaves had 

 been placed under them, but nothing else in the way of lining. A third 

 egg had been added in the interim. There can hardly be any doubt of the 

 truth of the foregoing facts." 1 



Mr. J. Sibbiston took a nest and eggs at Fort Yukon, Alaska, in June, 

 1864; Messrs. Robert Kennicott and Alexander McKenzie, each one, at Fort 

 Resolution, Great Slave Lake, on June 6, 1860, and Mr. A. Flett, one at 

 Fort Peele, Arctic North America, in June, 1863. In all these cases the 

 parent was taken and sent on with the eggs. 



Dr. R. B. Hit2 took two fresh eggs at Sun River, Montana, on July 5, 

 1867, but failed to secure the parents. The nest was in the hollow of a 

 tree about 20 feet from the ground. 



From the foregoing accounts it will be seen that the Pigeon Hawk 

 breeds in open nests and in natural hollows of trees as well as on cliffs and 

 in cavities and projections of river bluffs. Its flight is swift and powerful, 

 resembling that of the larger Falcons During the breeding season these 

 birds are rather retiring and are seldom noticed unless their nesting site is 

 very closely approached; but in the early fall and spring, as well as during 

 the winter, excepting along our northern border, they are not at all uncom- 

 mon, especially during their migrations. I found them moderately abundant 

 in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and have no doubt that they regularly 

 breed in the mountains there f but the majority go farther north. 



R. MacFarlane's Manuscript Notes on the Land and Water Birds Nesting in British America. 



