THE OOLOGIST. 



61 



two nesfs that they generally fix up be- 

 fore deciding which one to use. 



Red-shouldered Hawks frequently 

 adorn two nests before using either, 

 and one pair that I know of fixed up 

 three nests and then left me to guess 

 where they finally nested. 



C. F. Stone, 

 Branchport. N. Y, 

 (To be continued.) 



The Red-tailed Hawk' in Central 

 Illinois. 



By far the most common all-the-year- 

 round Hawk in this section of the coun- 

 try. In the early Spring and in the 

 Autumn this species may be seen by 

 anyone that is in the least observant of 

 nature and her doings, hovering in 

 varying numbers over stubble-fields 

 and meadows, and in the Winter sea- 

 son sailing across cornfields in search 

 of its "daily bread," which consists 

 principally of mice and rabbits with an 

 occasional small bird by way of a desert 

 and on comparatively rare occasions 

 the barnyard will be invaded and an 

 unlucky chicken or duck carried away 

 for a "Sunday dinner." 



Or during these same seasons if he is 

 not out looking for a dinner he will be 

 seen sitting quietly in a Cottonwood 

 tree by the roadside, where he is ever 

 on the alert and "scents danger afar" 

 as anyone carrying a gun who has tried 

 to get in shooting range of him can 

 testify. 



Sometimes, however, if you are in a 

 buggy you can approach very near the 

 tree before he takes flight, and occas- 

 ionally he will even be so trustful (when 

 you do not happen to have a "conceal- 

 ed weapon") as to allow you to drive 

 by, within maybe 30 feet of the tree, 

 without appearing to notice you. 

 ^During the nesting season and the 

 time of rearing the young they con- 

 fine themselves more exclusively to the 

 timber. 



More of this species are killed by the 

 farmers and hunters in this locality 

 than of all other species of Hawks com- 

 bined: because in the first place they 

 are probably as numerous as all other 

 resident species combined, and second- 

 ly and more important they are more 

 inclined to get away from the woods in 

 search of food, and this "coming out of 

 the woods" as it were makes them more 

 conspicuous and thus a target for the 

 shotgun. 



Their nesting begins early in the 

 springtime, their first sets usually be- 

 ing completed between the 15th and 

 25th of March. Only one set is laid in 

 a season unless the first is destroyed, 

 when a second set will be laid and if 

 that too be destroyed a third and even 

 possibly a fourth may sometimes be 

 laid under similar circumstances. 

 However I have never taken more than 

 three sets from the same pair in one 

 season. When more than one set is 

 laid I have found the interval between 

 sets to average about 23 days. My ex- 

 perience has been that sets of two and 

 three are about equally numerous. 



For their nesting site they almost in- 

 variably choose one of the tallest trees 

 if not the tallest tree in any particular 

 piece of timber, and usually the most 

 inaccessible possible position on the 

 upper and outer branches of the tree is 

 where the nest will be found, although 

 the position in the tree or rather the 

 distance from the trunk of the tree will 

 vary more than the height of the nest in 

 the tree or the height of the tree. The 

 general height of the nests in this coun- 

 ty (Champaign) is from 60 to 110 feet, 

 with perhaps an average of 80 to 85 

 feet. Of course an occasional nest will 

 be found on either side of the above 

 limits. 



There seems to to no preference 

 shown for any particular species or 

 variety of tree. The only question on 

 this subject that seems to interest them 

 is, "Is it a^aZZtree?" And if this can 



