152 NOliTII AMKiaCAN liHlDa 



cjjga, and np;aiii missed tlit! liinlfl. Tin a;,'ain wuiiL to tlui iicHt, sevoml iliiys 

 iil'tur, to sucnve tlu! imri'iits, iiiid was iiiiich sui'prisod to lirid lliiit tint oj,',i,'.s 

 were j,'oii('. His lirst siii»|>osiii(iii was tliat soiiu) otlusr |M!rsoii luul tal<t!ii 

 tliciii, Iml, ai'l'T lookiiiMj cari'I'iilly alioiit, lie pcn-civrd liotli liirds at a short 

 distaiici' ; and tills caused jiiin to institute a seareii, wiiicli soon I'l.'sulled in 

 his iindiiifj tiiat tlie e;,'jfs had been removed hy tiieni to tiie I'aee of a niiuid}' 

 1)aid< at least I'orty yards distant Iroin tlie oviijinal nest. A lew decayed 

 leaves had lieen phu'ed under them, lait notliinj;' els(> in tlie way of pvoteo 

 ti(m. A tliii'd eu^i' had lieen added since his ])i'evious examination. Tlie.so 

 I'acts Mr. MaeFarlane carefully investigated, and vouciies for their entiro 

 accuracy. 



Another nest, eontainiii;!; four eji,i,'s, was on the led^'e of a shaly clill", and 

 was composed of a very tew decayed leaves placed uiuha' the ogj^'s. 



^Ir. U. Kennieott found a nest, June 2, LStiO, in which incubation had 

 already commenced. It was al)out a foot in diameter, was built aLjainst tho 

 trunk of a jioplar, and its base was conipo.sed of sticks, the upper jsarts con- 

 sisting of mosses and frannionts of bark. 



Mr. Audubon mentions finding three nests of this l>ird in Labrador, in 

 each of which there were five eggs. 'I'lieso nests were placed on the top 

 branches of the low lirs jjcculiar to that country, composed of sticks, and 

 slightly lined with moss and a few feathers. He descrilies tlie eggs as 1.75 

 inches long, and l.LT) broad, with a dull yellowish-brown ground-color, 

 thickly clouded with irregular Itlotches of dark reddish-brown. One was 

 found in the beginning of duly, just ready to hatch. The ycnmg are at 

 first covered with a yellowish down, 'i'he old birds are said to evince great 

 concern respecting their eggs or young, remaining about them and manifest- 

 iiig all the tokens of anger and vexation of the most courageous species. 

 A nest of this Hawk (S. I. 7,127) was taken at St. Stephen, X. B., by Mr. 

 W. F. Hall ; and another (S. I. ir),r)4()) in the Wahsatcli ^lountaint^, by Mr. 

 Ricksccker. Tiie latter possibly belonged to the var. richrmJuoni. 



The nest of this bird found in Jamaica by 'Mr. March was constructed on 

 a lofty tree, screened by thick foliage, and was a mere platform of sticks 

 and grass, matted with soft materials, such as leaves and grasses. It con- 

 tained four eggs, descrilted as "round-oval or sjtherical" in shape, measuring 

 " 1..3S by 1.13 inches, of a dull clnyish-white, marked -with sepia and burnt 

 umber, continent dovshes and sjJashes, irregularly distributed, principally 

 about the middle and the larger end." Four others, taken from a nest in 

 the St. Johns Alountains, were oldong-oval, al)out tho same size and nearly 

 covered with chocolate and umber blotches. Mr. March thinks they l)el()ng 

 to different species. 



]\Ir. llutchius, in his notes on the birds of Hudson's IJay, states that this 

 species nests on rocks or in hollow trees ; that the nest consists of sticks and 

 <;rass, lined with feathei-s; and describes the eggs as white, thinly marked 

 with red spots. In the oviduct of a Hawk which Dr. liichardson gives as 



