some writers. The Red-shouldered Hawk, (Luteo 
lineatus), more commonly lays three than four 
eggs, never exceeding the latter number, and yet 
Audubon stated that they are sometimes five. 
The American Rough-legged Hawk, (Arehibuteo 
lagogus sanctijohannis), is also credited with four 
or five eggs, while the former is believed to be 
the true number. These instances could be easily 
multiplied, but enough have been mentioned to 
show that mistakes as to the number of eggs of 
the Raptores have been very common. 
See ge 
The Eggs of the Swallow-tailed Kite. 

Aubudon was the first to describe the eggs of 
the Swallow-tailed Kite (Hlanotdes forficatus.) 
He tells us that “the nest is usually placed on the 
top branches of the tallest oak or pine tree, situat- 
ed on the margin of a stream or pond. It resem- 
bles that of the Common Crow externally, being 
formed of dry sticks, intermixed with Spanish 
moss, and is lined with coarse grasses and a few 
feathers. The eggs are from four to six, of a 
greenish-white color, with a few irregular blotches 
of dark brown at the larger end.” (Audubon’s 
Birds of America, Vol. I, p. 80, Edition of 1840). 
This statement has been followed by all writers 
down to the present day. Dr. Coues, in his Birds 
of the Northwest, quotes the above passage, without 
comment as to the strange mis-statement as to the 
number of eggs laid by this bird ; and repeats the 
assertion, in the revised edition of his Aey, that 
they lay from four to six. 
An old and experienced oologist informs us 
that he has never heard of more than two being 
laid in one nest, and an experienced collector in 
Texas, who has found the eggs repeatedly, says 
that their number is always two. A fine set col- 
lected in Lavaca County, Texas, on April 20th, 
1885, and now in the cabinet of a gentleman in 
Philadelphia, were fresh when taken. The ident- 
ity was well proven, and the nest was placed on 
the side branches of a live oak tree. The eggs are 
two, and are smaller at one end than at the other. 
They are of a whitish color tinged with yel- 
low and are marked with large blotches 
of rich chestnut brown. No. 1 measures 1.80 
inches in length by 1.50 in breadth. No. 2 is 1.88 
long, and 1.48 broad. In No. 1 the markings are 
at the smaller end, while in No. 2 they are cluster- 
ed around the larger end. Dr. Coues gives their 
measurements as 1.90 by 1.50 in his Birds of the 
Northwest, basing them upon a single specimen 
then in the Smithsonian Institution collection, 
taken in Towa. In his Key he gives the same 
measurements, but does not say whether he had 
other specimens to examine, 
12 ORNITHOLOGIST 

[Vol. ti—Ne, 1 
Two Species of Raptores Using the 
Same Nest. 

The fondness that birds of the 2aptores family 
have for their old nests is a well known fact, and 
also their habit of returning to them year after 
year; even in many instances, when deprived of 
their eggs. That the same nest should be used 
by two kinds of birds of prey each year is a new 
fact, however. Such, nevertheless, is the case 
with a very large nest of sticks, lined with a few 
feathers, and placed in the notch of a post-oak, 
about forty-five feet from the ground, in Lee 
County, Texas. This nest is used every year, 
first, by the Great Horned Owl, (Bubo virginia- 
nus,) and afterwards by the Red-tailed Hawk, 
(Buteo borealis.) The young owls leave the nest 
before the hawk is ready to occupy it. It is not 
known whether the owl or the hawk originally 
built it, though both of them probably add to it 
each year, which would account for its large size. 

Some Interesting Facts About the 
Nesting of the Cuckoo. 
BY HARRY G. PARKER, CHESTER, PA. 


Imagine a rank and luxuriant undergrowth 
where the grape, ivy and other climbing vines 
throw out their arms to form a bower, situated in 
an interesting valley formed by two gently slop- 
ing hills rising on either side, and through this 
damp little glen a small stream pursues its wind- 
ing way. In such a place, remote from human 
habitation I was collecting on June 5th, of the 
past year, making my way on hands and and 
knees, (for blackberry and thorny bushes 
abounded too,) listening to the songs of Yellow- 
breasted Chats, Maryland Yellow-throats, and 
other warblers, and wondering how their nests 
could elude me so successfully; when casting my 
eyes upward, I saw right above me a Black-billed 
Cuckoo on her nest, a critical and interested spec- 
tator of this some-time quadruped. She seemed 
tenacious indeed, of her maternal rights, and only 
left the nest when my hand was about to grasp 
her, so I was surprised to find, upon examination, 
that she was setting so hard upon only one egg. 
The nest was beautiful, and unusually substantial 
for a Cuckoo, being a platform of thorny sticks, 
rootlets, Elm catkins, blossoms, grasses and strips 
of grape-vine bark. I coveted this nest for my 
collection so much that I took it, and the egg 
also, not expecting to visit this locality again. 
On June 14th, (nine days later) I happened to be 
again in this neighborhood, and again went 
through this same thicket, but more in quest of 
