63 



THE OOLOGIST. 



be answered in the affirmative that tree 

 is as likely to be chosen for a nesting 

 site as any other tree of the same height 

 whatever the species. 



Contrary to what seems to be the rule 

 in some sections of the country, they, 

 in this locality, rarely occupy the same 

 nest more than one season, an entirely 

 new one (usually not far from the old 

 one) being constructed each year, or 

 two, three or four in a year if that num- 

 ber of sets are laid. 



After incubation has begun they are,, 

 as a rule, very close sitters, refusing to 

 leave the nest till you are under the tree 

 and sometimes not until you have rap- 

 ped repeatedly on the trunk of the tree 

 or thrown several clubs among the 

 limbs. I recall one instance in which 

 I failed to dislodge the female from her 

 nest by even these proceedings, al- 

 though I rapped heavily and repeated- 

 ly on the tree trunk and threw clubs 

 until my arms were tired, several of 

 the clubs going very close to her. She 

 stuck to her nest till my climber was 

 within 20 feet of her before she took 

 flight. 



Almost without exception the sets 

 from a pair of birds show a marked in- 

 dividuality as to the number of eges in 

 a set, size, shape and ground color of 

 the individual eggs, and color or colors 

 and degree and intensity of the mark- 

 ings. My experience has suggested to 

 me that the plain or very slightly 

 marked sets are laid by young females, 

 and that as the age of the female in- 

 creases the degree and intensity of the 

 shell markings increase till the limit 

 for that particular female is reached. 



Have any of my readers made obser 

 vations upon this point? If so, did the 

 degree and intensity of the markings 

 increase with the age of the bird up to 

 a certain limit, or did it nofi 



What is more exhilerating and enjoy- 

 able than a drive to the country and a 

 tramp through the woods in the middle 

 of the Red-tailed Hawk season (April 



1st to 15th) a time when all nature is 

 just beginning to put forth the buds of 

 a new life? What more interesting 

 than to watch a Red-tailed Hawk sail- 

 ing, floating back and forth across a 

 field, now moving swiftly for a few 

 paces as though borne by a brisk breeze 

 and again hovering for moments above 

 a spot as though caught in a dead calm 

 and all the while with scarcely a visible 

 movement of those majestic sails? 

 What will more tend to draw one's 

 thoughts from the things of earth and 

 to direct his mihd to that great home 

 above to which all mankind should as- 

 pire, to impress upon him the great 

 wisdom and goodness of his Creator, 

 than to watch a Red-tailed Hawk when 

 he takes upon himself the role of a Sky- 

 lark and soars, at first in broad and 

 sweeping circles, each one a little high- 

 er than the preceding, and then in 

 gradually narrowing zones, but ever 

 "onward and upward''' till he is a mere 

 speck outlined against the blue sky and 

 then at last the eye can follow him no 

 more and he disappears from view as 

 though the very gates of Heaven had 

 opened and allowed him to enter in? 

 R. L. JesS£e, M. D., 

 Philo, 111. 



Queer Nesting. 



In the December Oologist I notice 

 that A. G. Prill of Scio, Oregon, men- 

 tions finding "a nest of the Mountain 

 Partridge containing 11 eggs of this bird 

 and 9 eggs of the Ring Pheasant." 



He says that this is the first time that 

 such an occurrence has come under his 

 observation, and that the Partridge was 

 sitting on the eggs and the Ring Pheas- 

 ant was not about. 



I do not wish to make any corrections 

 to Ur. Prill's notes, but simply wish to 

 add a few words, as I have had some 

 experience along the same line. 



I have found the eggs of the Ring 

 Pheasant in other bird's nests at least a 



