Chapin: Notes on Young Owls and Hawks 137 



Quercus coccinea, and there were three eggs in it when I first 

 climbed up, a week later. These eggs were of a pale bluish color, 

 with no distinct spots, while the eggs in the first nest had been of 

 normal coloration, with the usual brown markings. 



At 6.30 a.m., on May 20, while it was raining, I walked up 

 and tapped the tree without making the old hawk fly off the nest. 

 Ordinarily it would have left as soon as I came near, but it 

 seemed to know that the rain would injure the eggs, so I made no 

 attempt to climb the tree. 



One egg had begun to hatch on June 3, and on the 7th there 

 was a downy hawk in the nest, while the second egg was opening. 

 The hind legs of a frog, Rana sp. ?, were in the nest. These 

 hawks evidently were not acquainted with the human custom in 

 regard to the eating of frogs, but rudely devoured the legs last. 



On June 18, this nest was found to have been thrown out of 

 the tree, this time plainly by human beings. There was no sign 

 of young birds on the ground with the nest. 



During the rearing of their young, red-shouldered hawks 

 customarily cover the top of the nest with twigs bearing fresh 

 green leaves. Whether they do this merely for ornament, or for 

 some other purpose, I cannot even guess ; but it is certainly a 

 most effective method of keeping the nest clean. All excrement 

 is, of course, deposited over the edge of the nest; but there is 

 still a lot of refuse, remains of food, and the sheaths that fall 

 off the growing feathers, to be disposed of. Examination of the 

 lining of a nest after the young hawks have left shows it to be 

 composed of alternate layers of leaves and rubbish, while the top 

 is comparatively clean. 



Certainly no red-tailed hawks, Buteo borealis, breed on our 

 island, yet adult birds of this species were observed as late as 

 April 12, April 20, and May 3, 1908, at New Dorp, Annadale, and 

 Richmond respectively. 



Sparrow hawks, Falco sparverius. 



In early June, 1905, on two occasions I saw a pair of sparrow 



