Feb. 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



25 



liiiciitus exceeded trios but once. To several of 

 the sets is a reference to last year's record wliicli 

 in turn refers to former years, so that the com- 

 plete breeding history of some pairs can be traced 

 for a generation. It is proposed below to };ive a 

 plain condensed record with the accompanying 

 notes of course omitted. The statistics as present- 

 ed are in no sense an advertisement, but show 

 that tlie yearly take of a single avian family 

 makes a rather formidable list. Neitlier will tlie 

 list ser^ as a directory or Complete Guide to tlie 

 novice in hawking in this region, as some of the 

 localities are given purely local names and are 

 not all on published maps of the county. 



Bubo virginiasus: February 37, set of two. 

 Quail-trap Meeting-house. 



Strnium NEBULosr.M : Tuesday April 1, set of 

 tliree, Whippoorwill Ledge. April 5, first set of 

 two. May 9, second set of two. Hell Gate. 



BoTKO BoiiEALis; April 1, three sets of two, 

 Broad Brook, Holme's Woods, and IJuinebaug 

 River. April 13, two sets of two. Lime Rock 

 Woods and Rix Rude's. April 17, set of two. 

 Lantern Hill. 



B. MNE.VTrs: April 13, set of three, Tlie Com- 

 mon's. April 18, two sets of three. Brick Yard 

 and Boggy Meadow. April 30, set of four. Peg's 

 Cliase, two sets of three, Sunnyside aiid Spicer 

 Ledges. April 31, sets of two and three, Ox Hill 

 and Gallows Hill. April 23, set of three, Hell 

 Gate. April 2C, three sets of three, Bowen Hol- 

 low and Fairview Reservoir. April 37, set of 

 two, Cranberry Bog. May 4, set of two, Hop- 

 kin's W. May 10, set of two, Sunnyside. May 

 12, set of three inc., AVawecus Hill, two fresh 

 eggs Whippoorwill Ledge. May 29, one inc., 

 egg, Hopkin's W. June ],set of two inc. Hell 

 Gate. 



B. I'ENNSYLVAXK'Us: May 10 and 11, two sets 

 of two, Folly-Works Brook. 



AcciPiTEK cooPEBi : May 4, set of four, Cedar 

 Swamp. May 11, set of five, Gate's Pond, three 

 sets of four. Hell Gate, Folly Works Brook and 

 Brown's Mountain, ^biy 18, one fresh egg, Mo- 

 hegan, set of five, Spicer Ledges. May 39, five 

 fresh eggs, Kinney's W. .June 18, set of five inc., 

 Gardner's Lake. 



A. Fuscns: June 7, set of three, Cow Bridge. 



Circus hudsoniUs : First set of four May 18, 

 second set of five June 2, and third set of three 

 .Tune 18, Long Society. May 18, two sets of fives, 

 Broad Brook and Ayer's Factory. May 23, set of 

 five. North Stonington. 



Pandion c.vrolinensis : Set of two. May 18, 

 Sandy Hollow. May 5, set of two, old Whale 

 Rock Spindle, Fisher's Island Sound. 



Some Californian Raptores. 



I'AUT II. 

 BY A. L. I'AKKIRRST, SAN .lOSE, C'AI-. 



April 4. Flushed a Buteo from her lofty home 

 in a tall Sycamore. She merely left the nest and 

 jiercliina on a limb near by, eyed me inf|uisitively. 

 In tlie approaching twilight I could not identify 

 her, Init felt sure that she was not the Western 

 Red-tail. A,s I was unarmed I could not decide 

 the matter then. 



May 8,1 again visited the place and secured the 

 bird, which proved to be the AVeslern Red-tail in 

 tlie full adult plumage. Last year this same (?) 

 pair of birds occupied this nest and reared their 

 young. They were then in the lighter and com- 

 mon i)lumage. This year botli wore the dark 

 plumage. I secured tlie set of three thickly 

 niarkpd eggs, which were almost round. 



Apiil 19. Found a set of five fresh Sparrow 

 Hawk's eggs in a natural cavity in a Sycamore. 

 The female quietly left the nest and did not reap- 

 pear. The male was extremely bold. Poising in 

 the air about thirty feet above me, he would close 

 his wings and dart down witliin a foot of my head, 

 gracefully shooting past and upward, describing a 

 paralnlic curve. This was repeated many times, 

 accompanied by loud screaming notes. So threat- 

 ening was the bird in its attitude that I was mo- 

 mentarily expecting to be struck in the face. 



April 19. Found a set of the Barn Owl of five 

 eggs in a cavity in a Black Oak. The bird quietly 

 left the nest at my approach. 



April 20. Took a set of the Cal. Screech Owl, 

 four eggs, in a cavity in a Sycamore Tree. The 

 old bird was caught on the nest but promptly lib- 

 erated. I have taken one or more sets of eggs 

 from this nest eacli year for five years. The earliest 

 a set of three fresh eggs was taken April 7, 1883, 

 the latest a second set of two badly incubated 

 eggs was taken May 27, 1882. 



May 2. Found a nest of Barn Owl with one 

 young and six eggs in various stages of incubation , 

 but all nearly ready to hatch. This set was in 

 th.e same nest as the one taken Feb. 22. 



]May 3. Found a nest of Barn Owl in a cavity 

 in a Sycamore with five nearly fresh eggs. 



May 4. Found a nest of Burrowing Owl with 

 six fresh eggs. It was composed entirely of horse 

 manure in a squirrel's hole. The nest itself was 

 in a neat round chamber near the surface of the 

 ground and the burrow slanted upward just before 

 reaching the nest. Tlie eggs of this Owl are 

 rather small in comparison with the size of the 

 bird. 



Alay 12. Found a set of Cal. Screech Owl, 



