Nov., 1883.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



85 



The Hawks of '83, 



The first March walks iii the woods 

 showed that many of the old hawks' nests 

 were " wmter killed ? " Weakened and 

 disintegrated by the action of the 

 constant snow and ice, they had been 

 tumbled from the trees by the last fierce 

 breath of winter. So at the outset it was 

 clear that to secure the annual complement 

 of eggs would involve wider and closer 

 search than usual. Though shadowing 

 them closely, I was finally baffled as to the 

 nesting-places of several pairs of these 

 evicted hawks, and the season's work gave 

 but eighty eggs against over 100 for the 

 year before. Still the hawks were as com- 

 mon as ever and will continue so, doubt- 

 less, as long as their chief quarry the red 

 squirrel is so abundant here. In this se- 

 ries the sets of Eed-tailed were all in pairs, 

 and the Red-shouldered all in trios — the 

 Red-tailed of course being larger and less 

 showily marked. In average sets of ho- 

 realis one e^g^ will be plain and the other 

 nearly so, while in a large series of Red- 

 shouldered there will be some half dozen 

 types constantly recurring, many grada- 

 tions, and a few sets of absolute brilliancy. 

 Though the season was cold and late, the 

 Red-tailed bred as early as usual, while its 

 congener showed itself as heretofore af- 

 fected by extreme weather in the breeding 

 season. 



In blowing the incubated eggs of B. 

 lineatus, three sets were found which held 

 one stale egg each. It is not clear that 

 cold or wet caused this, but it is true that 

 a wet season makes the Buteo's eggs dull 

 and nest-stained. A single heavy rain, oc- 

 curring when the clutch is just laid, affects 

 tlieir brightness and beauty. And full 

 sets suffer by comparison with single eggs 

 taken when laid, as every day of exposure 

 fades all hawk's eggs. So the series of '83 

 is uninteresting and dull as a whole, while 

 '82, which was a dry season, presents a 

 uniformly showy lot. To remove nest- 



stains is not easy. If freshly laid the 

 markings will at once wash out of the eggs 

 of Fish Hawks and Buteos, so the corner 

 of a damp cloth only should be used on 

 the plain surface between the markings. 

 Dr. Wood says soap and water are cheap 

 and should be freely used. But as egg- 

 shells are porous, soap is at once absorbed 

 in the shell and afterwards when heated 

 comes out over the surface in yellow, waxy 

 exudations. 



The Buteo's eggs of this season were all 

 from the old haunts of last year, and pre- 

 sumably most of them were from hawks' 

 which had been often robbed. I also took 

 sets of Cooper's Hawks and Marsh Hawks 

 from old birds grown wary by the loss of 

 many clutches. Tuesday, June 26, I took 

 a set of three bright eggs of Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk from "a new nest in a secluded 

 swamp after leaving them vainly seven 

 days for a larger set. A pair of Sharp- 

 shinned with unfledged young were shot 

 in a hemlock clump within the city limits, 

 in July this year, by milkmen, who nailed 

 the hapless family on the side of a barn as 

 scare-crows. Now, if I had only gone 

 through the grove in June, as I always 

 have done in former years, the old birds 

 might be alive to-day, and my collection 

 the richer by one more set of Sharp- 

 shinned hawk's eggs. — J. 31. W., Nor- 

 wich, Conn, 



^ 



Downy Woodpecker. Late in October, 

 1882, a Downy Woodpecker excavated a 

 hole in an old cherry tree, near a much 

 used door in my yard, of the size and shape 

 of its usual nest, and occupied it nightly 

 for more than six weeks. In April follow- 

 ing a pair of Bluebirds took possession 

 and reared tAvo broods of five birds each ; 

 but now, October 2d, '83, the Woodpecker 

 has occupied his old quarters for several 

 nights, and frequents the locality during 

 the day. This habit of the Downy in mak- 

 ing a winter home is a new one to me. — 

 John M. Homey, Canamdaigria, N. Y. 



