290 XORTII AMEltrCAN BIRDS. 



l)ir(l, writes me that in Mussacliusetts tliey usiuiU)' lH'<j;iu to build their 

 nests iihiml the lirst of April, selectinj^' some tall tree near the middle of the 

 W(K)ds, the Ijrunches of whieii i'orm a eroteh near its trunk. To thi.s chosen 

 spot the female carrie.s a sutlicient quantity of sticks lor its outside (the 

 male takini; no very active piirt in the matter), and for its inside she uses 

 the hark from tlie dead hranches of the chestnut, which .she heats and pecks 

 to pieces with her bill, making it soft and plial)le, or gathers the I'allen 

 leaves of the pine, or some other soft material, which she finds conveniently, 

 as a lining, which is about one inch in thicknes.s. It is thirteen inches in 

 diameter from oiusiile to outside, and seven inches in diameter on the inside, 

 while its depth is two and a half inches. The female usually lays five eggs, 

 which are spherical, of a dirty-white color, and marked with large blotches 

 of brown ; on somcr they cover almost the whole egg, while others are 

 marked mostly on the large end, ami some even of the .same nest are so 

 faintly marked as to ajipear almost wholly white. They are 2.V2 inches in 

 length and LlJo in diameter. 



In Jamaica, according to Mr. March, these Hawks do not confine them- 

 selves to any particular mode or place for breeding, height seenung to be 

 their chief object, lie has found their ne.st in a ipute accessible tree, not 

 nn)re than twenty feet from the ground, and near a frei^uented path. In 

 anotlier instance a ])air nested for several years on the roof of the turret of 

 tlie 1)elfryof tlie Spanishtown Cathedral church. The nest he describes as a 

 j)latf(irm of dry sticks, more tiian a toot across and two or three inches thick. 

 The bed of the nest is about si.\ inches across and two deep, of line inner 

 bark, grass, and leaves, containing four or five eggs, nearly sjiherical, meas- 

 lu'ing 2.2;") by 2.7") inches, of a dirty fir clayish white, dashed with blotches 

 and spots of vaudyke-brown and umber, olten running with a light shade 

 into the ground-color. 



The eggs of the Red-tail exhibit great variations in nearly every respect 

 except their shape, which is ]iretty uniformly a s])heroidal-oval. Their ground- 

 color varies from white to a dingy rusty drab, their markings vary greatly 

 in colors, shades, size, frefpiency, and distribution. In some the markings 

 arc small, few, and light, and the egg a])pcars to be of an almost homoge- 

 neous brownish-white. In others the ground is comjdetoly concealed by 

 large and coidlueut blotches of deej) and dark puri)lish-brown, burnt umber, 

 and a peculiar shade known as Dutch und)er. In .some -the markings are 

 distriljuted in fine and frecjuent granulations, diffused over the entire surface 

 of the egg, producing the eil'ect of a color of uniform nmbor brown, through 

 which the groiunl of yellowi.sh-Avhite can only be traced by a magnifying- 

 glass. Four eggs in my cabinet average 2.22 inches in length by 1.72 in 

 breadth. The largest egg measures 2.")") by 1.0(1 inches; the smallest, 2.10 

 by 1.70. The capacity of the largest to the smallest is nearly as five to 

 i'our. 



The season in wliich this Hawk deposits its eggs varies considerably. 



