62 



THE OOLOGIST 



days to complete the laying of its 

 complement of eggs, incubation does 

 not begin until the full clutch is laid. 

 June 24. There were five lusty 

 nestlings, all in the downy stage, pure 

 white in color. The mother bird was 

 more in evidence than ever before, 

 calling out almost continuously and 

 several times flying by in plain sight. 

 Two or three times she flew through 

 the branches of the tree quite close 

 to me. There was no sign of food in 

 or around the nest or. on the ground 

 beneath; quite a bit of excrement was 

 beginning to accumulate on and about 

 the nest. 



This species evidently makes no ef- 

 fort to remove the shells of the eggs 

 offer the young are hatched, the 

 pieces simply being trodden in among 

 the sticks of the nest. 



June 28. Five downy young were 

 fully twice their size of June 24th. 

 The female did not show herself 

 though she was heard near at hand. 

 For the flrst time the male was heard. 

 His call was quite different from his 

 mate's, being lighter, thinner and more 

 metallic in sound. 



Still no sign of food about the nest 

 or trees though the appearance of the 

 young was sufficient evidence that 

 they were well fed. 



July 2. All five young doing well. 

 One seemed distinctly larger and 

 stronger than his mates. The pri- 

 mary sheathes were beginnnig to show 

 plainly on all five. 



I took with me some scraps of raw 

 beef and some of the birds ate quite 

 freely of it, if the pieces were small 

 enough. If the pieces I offered were 

 larger than a three quarter of an inch 

 section of a small lead pencil, they 

 would not take them. 



I took the largest nestling into my 

 hand, a proceeding he did not relish. 

 He struggled and flopped until his 

 talons had secured a firm hold upon 



one of my fingers, then he was content 

 to lie quietly in my hand. 



Aside from the coming primaries 

 they were still entirely in the downy 

 stage. 



There was some excrement notice- 

 able about the base of the tree, but not 

 much. The limbs just below the nest, 

 however, looked as if they had receiv- 

 ed a coat of whitewash. The female 

 was heard but not seen. Still no sign 

 of food about the nest or tree. I hunt- 

 ed the neighboring woods for any evi- 

 dence of food and about sixty yards 

 from the nest came upon a mass of 

 freshly plucked feathers of a young 

 Blue Jay. The bunch of feathers was 

 so compact, that the hawk must have 

 been on the ground when the jay was 

 plucked. On this occasion the female 

 made less fuss than on any other trip 

 I made to the nest. 



July 6. As I approached the nest I 

 could see the young ones raising 

 their heads above the edge of the nest. 

 One still showed marked superiority 

 in size and development. The other 

 four seemed about equal in develop- 

 ment. On all five the primaries were 

 opened out and showed very plainly 

 against the remaining plumage, which 

 was still white down. The legs had 

 lost their transparent look, the tarse 

 and feet being a bright, distinct yel- 

 low. The mother bird was very much 

 excited, more than ever before, sever- 

 al times fiying through the tree, while 

 I was in it, and once coming straight 

 for my head, and so near to it that I 

 ducked, thinking she was going to 

 strike. She passed not more than two 

 feet from me. 



The largest nestling clicked his bill 

 distinctly at me when I poked my fin- 

 ger at him. He would open his 

 mouth at the finger, yet when I put it 

 at the point of his beak, he did not 

 offer to take hold of it. 



I again looked through the surround- 



