181 



result we read" of great iuvasions of voles (meadov^ 

 mice) which ruiu a vast amount of property. 



If the persecution of the hawk and owl tribe in this 

 country is not checked, we may expect sucn ruinous 

 invasions of these sleek-co^ited rodents. 



THE NEST AND EGGS. 



Nest building generally occurs in March and lasts 

 from eight to fifteen days. The nest is built in the 

 woods, commonly on a large oak or hickory tree. A 

 pair of these hawks resorted for five consecutive years 

 to a large oak tree for nesting purposes, in a belt of 

 timber adjacent to the far-famed Deborah's Rock, 

 East Bradford township. The nest, a rather bulky 

 structure, is made, externally, of sticks and twigs, 

 some of the former being an inch in thickness; inter- 

 nally, it is lined with leaves and the inner layer of 

 bark — usually from oak and chestnut trees. This 

 lining of bark is frequently torn in shreds. 



Certain ornithologists, Audubon among the number, 

 have found five eggs in their nests. I have, however, 

 mostly found two, and on no occasion have I found 

 more than three to constitute tlie full complement. 



The eggs, about 2.40 by 1.85 inches, vary much in 

 their markings. Their ground color is a dull white or 

 rusty white, marked with minute brown spots, or with 

 large purplish dark-brown blotches, often covering the 

 greater part of the egg. Incubation lasts about three 

 weeks. Certain writers claim that this species will 

 boldly defend invasion o-f its home on the part of man. 

 Such may have been the experience of otliers, but such 

 statement is the reverse of my experience. T have 

 taken both eggs and young, and, as yet. I have en 

 countered no opposition; but have found them coward- 

 ly, flying away, in fact, beyond gunshot at my ap- 



