THE OOLOGIST. 



139 



The commonest of our Hawks, arrives 

 in the latter part of March. It is a 

 beautiful and daring bird and quite 

 well known to the country people. He 

 is not such a free-booter as some would 

 imagine, although I will admi ne loves 

 "chicken". Like the darkey his mouth 

 waters when he hears the cackle of a 

 hen. He also feeds greatly on sm: 1 il 

 birds, squirrels and ra obits. He may 

 often be seen sailing along close to the 

 ground, eagerly looking for his prey. 

 When one is spied he quickens his 

 flight until almost upon it. Then like 

 an arrow he swoops down and bears it 

 away. It is remarkable how one of 

 these birds can sail so swiftly among 

 the heavy timber and never strike 

 against some tree trunk. 



One day while out hunting I saw a 

 Cooper's hovering over Florence Lake, 

 and thinking it rather strange conclud- 

 ed to watch him. After twenty min- 

 utes had lapsed he slowly began to de- 

 scend until within ten yards of a patch 

 of rushes. I then arose and fired at 

 him but missed. Just then a Mallard 

 flew up from the spot where he was 

 watching, but Cooper's did not give 

 chase for he concluded to get out of 

 gun range. I firmly believe he was 

 watching the duck. 



The nest of Cooper's is generally 

 situated very high up, and composed of 

 small twigs. Crows' nests are often oc- 

 cupied. A pair nested in the same 

 nest two years near Scotland. 



Laying commences about the second 

 week in May, sometimes the first. The 

 eggs are of a pale bluish or greenish- 

 white, frequently spotted with pale 

 brownish red. The number in a set is 

 from four to six. 



American Goshawk, Accipiter arli- 

 capillus. This large and beautiful hawk 

 is only a winter visitor to our wood. 



Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo borealis. 

 The Red-tailed Buzzard is a very com- 

 mon breeder in our woods. Like 

 Cooperi it is also a lover of the barn- 



yard friends, but lacks the nerve of his 

 little cousiu.. Here they feed princi- 

 pally upon squirrels, gophers, chip- 

 munks and small birds. The remains 

 of the rodents are generally found in 

 the nests. 



The nests are situated in very tall 

 trees and composed of sticks, twigs 

 and bark, liued with bark. The only 

 feathers found in the nest are off the 

 breast of the bird. 



L. Skow took a very fine set of these 

 eggs, April 7, 1893 near Scotland, Neb., 

 four miles north of Omaha. 



Krider's Hawk, Buteo borealis. Ac- 

 cidental visitor; very rare. Took a 

 fine specimen near Florence, Neb., 

 three miles north of Omaha. 



Western Red-tail, Buteo borealis 

 calurus. Accidental visitor; have only 

 seen one since 1890. 



Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo line- 

 atus. This Hawk is largely distributed 

 over the state and is abundant in win- 

 ter. A great many call it "Chicken 

 Hawk," but it seldom visits the barn 

 yard. Its food is usually frogs, rats, 

 mice and sometimes small snakes. 



The nesting of the Red-shouldered is 

 almost the same as the Red- tail, but 

 here it seems to like small woods. The 

 u. umber of eggs deposited is three or 

 four, sometimes only two. The back- 

 ground is bluish or yellowish-white; 

 sometimes brownish, spotted and 

 blotched irregularly with many shades 

 of reddish-brown. A set in my col- 

 lection is exceedingly heavily marked 

 with dark brown. 



Swainson's Hawk, Buteo sivainsoni. 

 This beautiful bird may also be classed 

 as a common breeder here. I have 

 never heai'd of this species visiting the 

 barn yards. They feed pi'incipally up- 

 on gophers, grasshoppers, mice and 

 large black crickets. The nests of this 

 species are situated in trees, from 30 to 

 50 feet from the ground. Old nests of 

 Hawks and Crows are also titled up. 



A set of eggs taken April ;. 0, 1891 



