BIRDS OF NEW YORK 43 



It was a matter of surprise to find so few hawks and owls in the 

 woods. The owls were mostly silent, except the Barred owl, and so were over- 

 looked, but no evidence was secured from the inhabitants, or otherwise, 

 that any other species of owl was common in this region. The commonest 

 hawks in order were the Broad-winged, Coopers and Red-tailed. There 

 was some evidence of one family each of .the Sharp-shinned hawk. Pigeon 

 and Goshawk, and the eyrie of a pair of Duck hawks was found on Lower 

 Ausable lake and a family of Sparrow hawks near John Brown's grave. 

 The Red-shouldered hawk was not located nearer than Saranac river where 

 one family was found in August. None of these hawks was common and 

 we do not believe that more than six pairs of Broad-winged hawks, four 

 pairs of Coopers hawks, and three pairs of Red-tailed hawks nested within 

 6 miles of Mt Marcy. 



Water birds were very scarce. One family of American mergansers 

 was reared on Elk lake and one pair of Pied-billed grebes was endeavoring 

 to nest there. American bitterns were breeding on the same lake, but 

 had been destroyed by reckless tourists. Herring gulls paid daily visits 

 to Elk lake and sometimes to Upper Ausable and were evidently nesting 

 somewhere south of these lakes. A small colony of Great blue herons was 

 located in the marshes of Boreas pond. We learned that Wood ducks in 

 previous seasons had nested on Boreas pond and a "Sawbill" had had a 

 nest of 1 1 eggs under a tussock of grass on Elk river. This was evidently 

 a Red-breasted merganser. Woodcock were almost unknown in Keene 

 Valley, but families of these birds were found 3 miles below Elk lake and 

 at Boreas pond. Spotted sandpipers with downy young were found both 

 at Boreas pond and at Elk lake and birds of this species were seen several 

 times in Keene Valley and the Ausable lakes. 



Eagles and ospreys were not nesting in this immediate vicinity. One 

 osprey came fishing frequently to the Upper Ausable from some point 

 southward and we judged from the time she was absent after taking a fish, 

 that her nest was several miles distant. One Bald eagle was seen passing 

 over Havstack and we learned that it had bred recently on the high slopes 



