FALCOMD.i: — TIIJ'] FALCONS. ;:;()<) 



Wilson, Au(1ii1k)ii, ami Xiittiill appear to have kiinwii iiotliinj,' in rci^avd 

 to till' liivcdinjf oi' tliL' Koni^'li-lL^yi'd JIawk. A yaW was seen liy llicliaidsnn 

 at tlie'ii' nest, wliii'li was built of sticks, anil on a lolly tree .standin,^' on 

 a low moist alluvial ])oint of land, in a licnd of tlio Saskatchewan ; li\it tlu'y 

 wi'i'i! too wary to he shot, and he makes no mention of their e^|;s. 



^rynejihews, II. J{. and F. 11. Storev, found a pair of Ilouji;h-le,u,ui'd Hawks 

 nesting on a roeky clilf on the eoa.st of l,alirador, near the liarlmr of llras 

 d'Or. Tlie nest was very rudely constructed of sticks, and placinl on a high 

 rock directly over the water, inaccessible from i)el(iw, but readily aiqiroached 

 ironi above. it contained three young liirds and an egg. The young 

 Hawks were just ready tu lly, and all scramliled out as the nest was ap- 

 proached, and rolled the egg to the bottom of the clilf, but without injiu'ing 

 it. The nest contained four or live large rats jieculiar to that region, col- 

 lected by the old birds for their young. The old birds Mere in the light 

 jdumage. At the same time a young bird was taken alive from another 

 iiest by one of the sailors of their Jtarty, -which was tpiite lilack even in its 

 immature dress, and strikingly different J'rom the young just mentioned. 



]\Ir. ^lacFarlane's very complete and careful notes mention, in detail, no 

 less than llfty-eight nests of this species as procured and ideiitilied by his 

 party. Of these, forty-six were built on trees, generally spoken of as being 

 large pines, and usually about twenty feet from the ground. Twelve nests 

 were found liuilt on the edge of steeji dill's of shaly mud on the banks uf 

 creeks, rivers, and lakes. 



The n(!sts that were taken from trees are described as having heen built 

 in a crotch, not far from the toj), and to have l)een formed externally of dry 

 twigs, sticks, and small branches, warndy lined with down, feathers, and line 

 hay. Those fotind upon cliffs and high river-banks were made of similar 

 materials, but usually with a smaller base of sticks, and a greater supply of 

 hay, moss, and other soft materials. The number of eggs varied from three 

 to live, never more than the latter, and were at times in differing stiiges 

 of inculndion in the same nest. Wlnuiever the nest was approached, the 

 parent birds always manifested great uneasiness, and uttered vociferous 

 screams of distress. The eggs were generally found from the 27th of May 

 to the 25th of June. Those taken after the 2(lth of June usually con- 

 tained well-developed embryos. The sjiecies was met with by Mr. ^lac- 

 Farlanc in great abinidance in various localities, — near Fort Anderson, 

 lower down on the Anderson Kiver, near the Arctic coast, anil in the vicinity 

 of IJendezvous Lake. 



One of the Indians collecting for ^Ir. MacFarlane informed him that on the 

 9tli of June he discovered the nest of one of these Hawks on a ledge of 

 shaly mud. As he could not kill the parents, he set a snare about the nest. 

 CJoing to it later in the day, he was disappointed at linding his snare set 

 aside, the eggs gone, and the birds not to be seen. He presumed the parents 

 had removed the eggs, of which there had been three, to a safer place. 



