THE OOLOGIST 



176 



a common three-barbed ''grab- hook" 

 that had been made to use in fishing 

 bncljets out of wells. Swinging my 

 liook I threw it, after a failure or two, 

 over a branch full thirty feet from the 

 ground. Ascending the rope as only a 

 sailor, a monkey, or a naturalist could 

 have ascended it, I carefully reached 

 one arm over the limb, and twisting 

 the rope around one foot and pressing 

 it in place with the other, 1 drew my 

 pocket knife and trimmed off all the 

 thorns in reach, so that I could draw 

 myself up without danger or difficulty. 



After a brief rest I threw the hook 

 again and caught a branch soniie ten 

 feet further up. Mounting this branch 

 as I had the first one I followed it to 

 the trunk, and by moving slowly and 

 carefully climbed to the nest. 



This nest, which was situated in a 

 fork comparatively free from thorns, 

 was constructed of twigs, coarse ones 

 beneath and smaller ones above, and 

 had only the scanty suggestion of a lin- 

 ing of leaves. The four eggs were near- 

 ly spherical, more than an inch and a 

 quarter in diameter, and were covered 

 with spots and blotches of chocolate 

 brown on a ground of bluish white. 



I was collecting facts, and not eggs, 

 and did not rob the nest, but it would 

 not have been a very serious 

 crime if I had done so, for these 

 Hawks are persistent layers and I have 

 known of a nest being robbed three 

 times in one season, thirteen eggs be- 

 ing taken before the poor bird gave it 

 up in disgust. It may have been per- 

 secution nf this kind which led this 

 Hawk1<' -elect a locust tree for a build- 

 ing sit' . 



Creeping back to my hook I lowered 

 a string to the ground and then bring- 

 ing the end of it over the branch tied it 

 to my rope. Descending the rope I 

 pulled the string and drew hook and 

 rope over the branch to the ground. 

 I had climbed fifty feet in a locust and 

 down again without getting a scratch. 



When a friend once informed me that 

 ■'Hen-hawks built their nests out of 

 cord-wood" I thought the statement 

 was only the spontaneous bubbling 

 over of the unaffected poetry of his na- 

 ture, but I afterwards admitted that 

 there was some show for his exaggera- 

 tion. Climbing a lofty shell bai'k hick- 

 ory to examine a bulky nest in a fork 

 near the top I found that I was invad- 

 ing the premises of a Cooper's Hawk. 

 For so small a bird the nest was sur- 

 prisingly large, and the coai'seness of 

 the materials used in its construction 

 were still more sux'prising, some of the 

 sticks used being i inch in diameter. 

 This nest was rudely lined with strips 

 of the inner bark of some tree, appar- 

 ently of the Cottonwood, and contained 

 no eggs. About the middle of May I 

 returned again [and found the female 

 brooding upon two dirty bluish white 

 eggs, obscurely spotted and blotched 

 with faded brown. I was surprised at 

 the smallness of the set of eggs and 

 took pains to examine three other nests 

 each of which contained four eggs. 



These Hawks are the smallest of 

 those known by the suggestive name of 

 Hen -hawk. They are common in this 

 locality and I have frequently had the 

 opportunity of admiring the swiftness 

 of their flight and the accuracy of their 

 aim. 



The Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo boreahs, 

 is another common species here, but its 

 nest is not easy to find, for it is hated 

 so heartily and is so much persecuted 

 that it builds only in the most secluded 

 spots. The only nest I have ever ex- 

 amined was in the topmost fork of a 

 giant tulip tree. This tree by the way 

 is known as the "'yaller poplar" here. 

 The nest was an immense affair, larger 

 even than that of Cooper's Hawk. It 

 consisted of a huge bundle of sticks, was 

 slightly hollowed out and lined with 

 the so-called "cup-raoss"{Cladonia pyxi- 

 data), gathered from old trees. The 

 nest contained three eggs, not quite 



