Aug. 1887.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



m 



A Favorite Nest. 



IJy HON. JOHN N. CLARK, SAVBKOOK, CONN. 



Within the range of one of my annual spring 

 circuits was a large branching chestnut, a 

 giant among giants. In its lofty summit, at 

 a triple crotch, a Cooi)er's Hawk {ArcipUcr 

 con'peri) erected her domicile in the year 1884. 

 It attracted very little attention from me, ex- 

 cept the observation that it was an easy tree 

 to climb, though exceedingly high. The num- 

 erous branches extended in all directions quite 

 from the ground. As T i)assed the spot in the 

 spring of 1885, I thought I perceived the glar- 

 ing eyes and erect horns of a Bubo, and under 

 investigation the old owl quietly departed, 

 leaving to my possession a nice set of two 

 Great Horned Owl's eggs. 



With this success in mj'^ memory, anticipa- 

 tion led me promptly to the spot in 1S8G and, 

 quite as much to my surprise, as I approached 

 the nest an old IJed-tailed Hawk (BiUeo borealis) 

 launched herself from it with a wild scream of 

 defiance. On the 7th of April I secured there- 

 from the handsomest set of Buteo borealis eggs 

 (one of tliree) that I ever saw. I could i)er- 

 ceive but little change in the nest excejjt per- 

 haps a few clutches of fibrous bark added to 

 the mass. 



As the season of 1887 approached, one of the 

 first attractions was, of course, that old nest, 

 but to my disappointment I found nothing i^er- 

 ceptible from below, and j'^et there was a fresh- 

 ness about the nest which led me there again. 

 A feather was waving from one of the twigs on 

 the nest, and a sharp raj) on the tree made a 

 barred owl {Strix ndndosa) raise herself to the 

 edge of it. She stared at me with lier great 

 black eyes, and flew to a tree near by, whence 

 after glaring at me a moment, she screamed 

 out, "Who-who-who-o-o-o-o-o," — the third sj'l- 

 lable long drawn out and in a high pitch for an 

 owl. This was a revelation and a surprise in- 

 deed. I have taken a number of sets of Barred 

 OwFs eggs, but always before from a hollow 

 tree. Only a few rods away was a large oak 

 with a si)lendid hollow in its trunk about 

 eighteen feet up, whence I have taken at least 

 four sets in as manj^ yeai's, and now old Strix 

 plays the trick of renting a hawk's nest eightj^ 

 feet up in the open air. Well she gave me a 

 fine set on the 22d of April, somewhat incu- 

 bated. I could readily perceive why she was 

 invisible from below. She had worked the old 

 material of the nest into walls five or six inches 

 high, thus making a nest so deeiJ she could 



settle down into it all out of sight. Is this 

 after the usual manner of the Fnlronidw and 

 Buhonidix',? I have not had extended opportu- 

 nities of observation, but in none have I seen 

 any except Cooper's Hawks l)uilding themselves 

 a new nest. 



Nesting of the ^A^hite-tailed Kite. 



nV II. R. TAVI.Ol!, ALAMKUA, CAI.. 



While out on a ramble near San Jose early 

 in Alaj', 1887, I had the good fortune to find 

 a nest of the White-tailed Kite {Elannx (/hinnts). 

 It was in the very topmost branches of a live- 

 oak, thii'ty feet above ground, and contained 

 four beautiful eggA which were but sliglitly 

 incubated. Several writers have asserted that 

 this kit(! always builds a new nest each year, 

 but in this instance the nest was unquestion- 

 ably an old one which the birds had ri^paired 

 by the addition of a few feathers and sticks, 

 "^rhe Kite had risen from tlie nest as I ap- 

 proached, and flown majestically away over the 

 trees and out of sight, but now returned and 

 perched on an oak near by, where it sat plum- 

 ing its feathers with apparent indillerenc(? while 

 I secured the eggs. After packing the set care- 

 fully away I hid myself under some trees 

 where, unobserved, I might watch the move- 

 ments of the bird. As soon as I was out of 

 sight it flew from its perch, and after circling 

 several times around the tree containing its 

 nest, alighted on a limb near it. It cautiously 

 turned its head in all directions, seemingly to 

 satisfy itself that no enemy was near, and then 

 gracefully settled on the enq)ty nest. I did 

 not again see it move although I remained some 

 time in the vicinity. 



The Great Northern Shrike and Its 

 Prey. 



RY C. C. MAXFIEI-I). 



In the July number of the O. and O. I see a 

 short article by my friend, Benj. F. Hess, and 

 see mj'self quoted as finding sparrows on 

 thorns, etc. 



Instead of having found them hung in forks, 

 1 have, on several occasions, seen the Great 

 Northern Shrike kill English si)arrows and 

 hang them in the forks of small bushes by the 

 Oswego river. The Shrike at Phoenix, N. Y., 

 is a bird very hard to find in summer, although 

 occasionally seen, but in winter are rather 



