Vermont Bird Club 23 



[Abstract] 



NOTES ON THE NESTING HABITS OF DUCK HAWKS 

 IN RUTLAND COUNTY 



DuANE E. Kent. Rutland 



The duck hawk can be called almost common in and near Rutland 

 county, for since 1895 the writer has known of eight cliff nesting sites 

 of this interesting bird of prey, and has received information of still 

 more of which he has not personal knowledge. The birds, with the 

 possible exception of one or two pair, return to these localities every 

 year. They are always very much attached to favorite spots and it 

 takes repeated disturbance to drive them away. 



The first nest that I ever saw was at White Rocks in Wallingford 

 in 1895. My brother, Wyatt A. Kent, and I visited this nest a number 

 of seasons. In 1912 Jay G. Underwood and George L. Kirk reported 

 seeing two duck hawks in April at Bird mountain in the town of Cas- 

 tleton. Later we visited this place and found the birds nesting in a 

 very inaccessible cliff on the south side of the mountain. In the late 

 summer of the same year G. H. Ross reported seeing a pair on a small 

 cliff about three miles north of Bird mountain in the town of Ira. On 

 June 15, 1913, Mr. Kirk and I visited this locality and found that the 

 hawks had downy young. We heard the parent birds long before we 

 were near the nest. As we approached the foot of the cliff they be- 

 came greatly disturbed and flew over close to our heads. The exact 

 location of the nest was easily determined from the foot of the cliff 

 by "chalk" marks and the aerie proved to be accessible without the 

 aid of ropes. This is the only nest of which I have ever known which 

 could be reached in this manner. Mr. Kirk climbed down from the 

 top of the cliff and found two young about three-quarters grown. 



There is a cliff in West Haven, a mile back from Lake Champlain 

 and on or near the game preserve of William Koch, where Mr. Ross 

 and Mr. Kirk have twice seen duck hawks flying about, and the birds 

 no doubt nest there. D. Lewis Button reports seeing these hawks at 

 Mount Horrid in Rochester during the nesting season in 1912 and he 

 has heard reports of their being there other years, so that the nesting 

 site is probably a regular one. Joseph A. Wellwood states that duck 

 hawks nest on Mount Equinox in Manchester, and they are said to 

 have occupied a cliff on Mount Haystack in Pawlet many years. 



