776 REPOKT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



winter than summer. Everywhere it is most numerous during the 

 migrations. In some places it is considered rare at other times. 



In fall the migrations occur in September and October; in spring, 

 in March and April. 



Mr. H. W. McBride found it breeding in Dekalb County. Mr. 

 A. II. Kendrick says it breeds in Vigo County. Mr. L. T. Meyer 

 found a nest containing two fresh eggs in Lake County, April 

 17, 1886. It was placed in a tall oak, and was composed of sticks and 

 lined with bark. Dr. T. M. Brewer says Audubon speaks of having 

 met with three nests, one in a hole in a rock, on the banks of the 

 Ohio Eiver, another in the hollow of a broken branch, near Louisville, 

 Ky., and the third in the forks of a low oak, near Henderson, Ky. 

 (N. A. Oology, Pt. I, p. 19). 



This represents three types of nesting sites, but the habit of nesting 

 in cliffs is very rare outside of the Arctic regions. The nest is gen- 

 erally large and well built. Sometimes they remodel the old nest of a 

 crow or squirrel and use it. They are late in nesting. Usually fresh 

 eggs are found late in April and in May, rarely as late as June 1. 

 The eggs are laid at intervals of one and two days; incubation begins 

 when the set is complete; meanwhile the female guards the nest. The 

 male does not cover the eggs, but brings food to the female while she 

 is thus occupied. The period of incubation is about three weeks. But 

 one brood is reared in a year. 



The three hawks of this genus, the Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, and 

 the Goshawk, are among the most destructive and injurious of our 

 hawks. They grade one into the other in size. The Goshawk is rare 

 and is only seen in Indiana in winter. They are commonly known as 

 Big and Little Blue-tailed Hawks, Darts or Darters, the present species 

 being the Little Blue-tail. The greater part of their food is chickens, 

 fowls and birds. These two species should be known by the name of 

 "Chicken Hawk" or "Hen Hawk," instead of the larger Buteos. Our 

 citizens, particularly farmers and poultry men, should take pains to 

 learn these species, that they may be able to distinguish and punish 

 the guilty and not the innocent. Investigations of 159 stomachs of 

 this bird by the United States Department of Agriculture showed that 

 nearly fifty kinds of birds had been eaten, and that no bird, from the 

 size of doves, robins and chickens, were safe from its attacks. In fact, 

 in 96 J per cent, of the stomachs containing food were the remains of 

 small birds. While they rarely attack full-grown poultry, young fowls 

 are a favorite food, and a brood, if exposed, is often entirely destroyed. 

 One of the stomachs examined by me in December, 1886, was found 

 to contain several large parasitic worms. 



