A YOUNG MARSH HAWK 135 



by some boys in the neighl)orhood. The past 

 season, in April or May, ]jy watching the 

 mother bird, he found the nest again. It was 

 in a marshy place, several acres in extent, in 

 the bottom of a valley, and thickly grown with 

 hardback, prickly ash, smilax, and other low 

 thorny bushes. My friend brought me to the 

 brink of a low hill, and pointed out to me in 

 the marsh below us, as nearly as he could, just 

 where the nest was located. Then we crossed 

 the pasture, entered upon the marsh, and made 

 our way cautiously toward it. The wild thorny 

 growths, waist high, had to be carefully dealt 

 with. As we neared the spot I used my eyes 

 the best I could, but I did not see the hawk 

 till she sprang into the air not ten yards away 

 from us. She went screaming upward, and 

 was soon sailing in a circle far above us. 

 There, on a coarse matting of twigs and weeds, 

 lay five snow-white eggs, a little more than 

 half as large as hen's eggs. My companion 

 said the male hawk would probably soon ap- 

 pear and join the female, but he did not. She 

 kept drifting away to the east, and was soon 

 gone from our sight. 



We soon withdrew and secreted ourselves 

 behind the stone wall, in hopes of seeing the 

 mother hawk return. She appeared in the dis- 

 tance, but seemed to know she was being 

 watched, and kept away. About ten days later 

 we made another visit to the nest. An adven- 

 turous young Chicago lady also wanted to see 

 a hawk's nest, and so accompanied us. This 



