FALCONIIhE — THE l-WLCONS. 189 



IVcfiuently killotl by their cxcromont or the siiliiie clinracter of their food and 

 the materials of tlieir nest. The hird is hold and conHdin;.^, often coii.structin<,' 

 its nest near a fr(;(iuented path, or even upon a hij,'h\vay. Near the eastern 

 extremity of the Wi icasset (Me.) liridge, and direetly ujion the staye-road, a 

 nest of this Ihiwlc was occupied several year.s. It was upon tlie top of a 

 low iiine-tree, was readily ae(!e.ssible, the tree hv'iw^ easily climbed, and was 

 so near the road that, in passing,', the youn<,' birds could frecpiently be heard 

 in th(!ir nest, utterinj,^ their usual (jries for food. 



The nests are usually composed externally of lar,i,'e sticks, often piled to 

 the heijzlit of five feet, with a diameter of three. In a nest described by 

 Wilson, he found, intennixed with a mass of sticks, corn-stalks, sea-weed, 

 wet turi; nudlcin-stalks, etc., the whole lined with dry S(>a-j,'rass {ZoMa'a 

 moruKi), and large enough to fill a cart and be no inconsiderable load for a 

 hoi'se. 



When the nest of this Hawk is visited, c.s])Ocially if it contain young, the 

 male bird will frecpieutly make violent, and .sometimes dangerous, attacks 

 upon the intruder. In one instance, in Alaiiu^ the talons of one of these 

 Hawks penetrated through a thick cloth cap, and laid bare the scalp of a lad 

 who had climl)ed to its nest, and very nearly hurled him to the ground. A 

 correspondent ([uoted by AVilson narrates a nearly similar instance of coura- 

 geous and desperate defence of the young. They arc very devoted in their 

 attentions to their mates, and supply them with food while on the nest. 

 Wilson relates a touching instance of this devotion, where a female that 

 had lost one leg, and was unable to fish for herself, was abundantly supplied 

 by her mate. 



In some localities the Fish Hawk nests in large communities, as many 

 as three hundred pairs Ihaving been observed nesting on one small island. 

 When a new nest is to be constructed, the whole counmniity has been 

 known to take part in its com])letion. They are remarkably tolerant 

 towards smaller birds, and pei'mit the Purple Grakle (Qtiimdu.i piirpureus) 

 to constnu't its nests in the interstices of their own. Wilson observed no 

 le.ss than four of these nests thus clustered in a single Fish Hawk's nest, 

 with a fifth on an adjoining branch. 



The eggs of the Fish-Hawk nn; usually three in luimber, often only two, 

 and more rarely four. They are subject to groat variations as to their 

 ground-color, the number, shade, and distrilnition of the blotches of secon- 

 dary coloring with which they are marked, and also as to their size and shape. 

 Their ground-color is most frequently a creamy-white, with a very percepti- 

 ble tinge of red. This varies, however, from an almost pure shade of cream, 

 without any admixture, to so deep a shade of red that white ceases to be 

 noticeable. Their markings are combinations of an almost endless variation 

 of shades of umber-brown, a light claret-brown, an intermingling of both 

 the.se shades, with occasional intermixtures of pur))li,sh-brf)wu. They vary 

 in length from 2.66 to 2.24 inches, and in breadth from 1.88 to 1.69 inches. 



