•272 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Raptores of Michigan. 



By' Scolopa. 



Part Four. 



The European Buzzard, Buteo buteo 

 L. This straggler from the old world, 

 not rarely taken at the North on the 

 eastern coast of N. A., has been twice 

 recorded from Michigan. Exact refer- 

 ence not now at hand but can be furn- 

 ished if desired. At best it can only 

 be embraced as an irregular visitor. 



Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainscni 

 Bonap. I have never met with this 

 species to my knowledge, but ha^e, 

 nevertheless always thought that it was 

 more common thau credited. A few 

 have been recorded from various parts 

 of the state. In time, and when com- 

 petent ornithologists shall be found in 

 nearly all sections of Michigan, it may 

 ' be reasonably expected, that the Swain- 

 son's Hawk, will, at least be genei-ally 

 known as a yearly visitor to the penin- 

 sular State. 



Broad-winged Hawk, Buteo latissi- 

 mus. Wils- In the Northern part of 

 the state, this species may be abundant, 

 though it is not reported so, that I can 

 learn. In Southern Michigan it is but 

 little known, and many, ornithologists 

 'have collected for years without seeing 

 a bird. Still scarcer are the successful 

 ones with the eggs As an evidence of 

 its rarity here, in the breeding season, 

 I will say, that in over five hundred 

 nests of the buteos which have been rob- 

 bed by the collectors of this (Kalama- 

 zoo) county, only one set of eggs of this 

 Buzzard was taken. It may be safe to 

 •add that I suspect the identify of 

 ■Hawk's eggs is not always accurate. 

 In fact I suspect that nests of this bird 

 have been found and overlooked. The 

 advice is given, that in all eases of 

 doubt, the bird should be secured when 

 the eggs are removed. 



In late May, 1S75 two of us were 



hunting and collecting in a piece of low 

 woods where we often went. Jim saw 

 a Hawk sailing leisurely through the 

 woods He followed it and shot the 

 bird which proved to be of this species. 

 As the Hawk was rare to us, having 

 previously only been seen in migrations 

 we were much interested in the note 

 and began to look about although we 

 did not expect to find eggs owing to the 

 lateness of the season. We quickly 

 spied a suspicious-mass of rubbish in a 

 large white ash only a few rods away. 

 When we approached the tree we were 

 much pleased to see the old bird fly off. 

 She alighted in an adjoining tree and 

 was easily bagged. 



It was a very warm day and so we * 

 disembowelled our specimens and pack- 

 ed the cavity with dry materials on 

 which was dropped a little carbolic acid. 

 An examination disclosed the fact that 

 the mother bird was engaged in laying, 

 and we at once laid our plans for scal- 

 ing the ash tree which was nearly 

 seven feet in circumference two feet 

 above the ground. The trunk ascend- 

 ed all of fifty feet without a limb. In 

 those early days we knew nothing 

 about climbing irons and our bird-nest- 

 ing was the hardest kind of climbing in 

 many cases. After much scrambling 

 and puffing, together with a good deal 

 of boosting from below by my compan- 

 ion with a long sapling and crotch, I 

 managed to reach the nest, which was 

 built like the nests of the other buteos, 

 as near as I could judge. It contained 

 two eggs one of which was well marked 

 and much like the usual description, 

 while the other was of dirty white 

 ground color with a very few markings. 

 The eggs can be distinguished from 

 those of the Red-tailed and Red-should- 

 ered Hawks both by size and markings, 



* All birds which feed on flesh become putrid 

 in warm weather within a very few hours after 

 death unless treated with some antiseptic. 

 Another method I often adopt, and this is par- 

 ticularly adapted t ) cases where birds are to 

 be sent by mail or express, is to fill the eviscer- 

 ated body with powdered charcoal. 



