THfe dOLOQISt 



147 



the ground, a number of egg shells on 

 the ground and the nest a platform of 

 sticks with only a slight depression in 

 the center. 1 had no inclination to 

 collect the birds or their eggs. 



Several kinds of Humming Birds 

 visit the flowers in our yard every 

 day, Towhees, Thrashers, Mocking 

 Birds, and several kinds of Sparrows 

 come regularly to drink and be fed. 

 Dr. W. S. Strode, 

 Lagune Beach, Calif. 



July 31, 1923. 



NESTING OF THE RICHARDSON 

 PIGEON HAWK 



To describe the habits of this Hawk, 

 it may be well to first give a brief 

 sketch of the country here where I 

 find this bird nesting. 



The State Game Preserve, in the 

 Black Hills of South Dakota, comprise 

 ninety-one thousand acres, among the 

 largest, well kept, protected and 

 fenced game parks in the world, 

 abounding in herds of both black and 

 white tailed deer, elk, buffalo, big- 

 horn sheep, ranging at large in near 

 their wild state, in a pine covered 

 mountainous and foot-hill country. 



In this portion of the black hills are 

 many deep and rocky canyons with a 

 heavy growth of pine and other trees, 

 so steep are the high hills and so 

 dense the growth, the sun can hardly 

 penetrate, always dark and gloomy, is 

 the home of the Richardson's Pigeon 

 Hawk. Here it builds its nest in the 

 darkest and shadiest spot, well up in 

 a pine tree, here it raises its young 

 and carries on its work of destruction 

 as the food of this bird in this lo- 

 cality, consists of ninety-five per cent 

 of the Black Hills Ruffed Grouse. 



In examining nests containing young 

 I find a hat full of bones and feet of 

 the Grouse and nothing else, and the 



same is usually the case in the crops 

 of old birds killed. 



The nest is built entirely of sticks, 

 a solid platform affair with little at- 

 tempt at lining. The eggs, three and 

 four, more or less spotted with light 

 brown. 



This Hawk is shy and keeps well to 

 cover and well it stands in hand in my 

 range, seldom flying out in the open, 

 then usually to attack its enemy, the 

 Kriders Hawk, for seldom can a 

 Kriders have a peaceful sail over the 

 hill top without being attacked by 

 one of these little pests. Like an ar- 

 row it appears from cover, pursuing 

 the awkward-flying Kriders beating it 

 from above and forcing it to cover. 



It is quite useless to follow these 

 birds when seen to enter a dense for- 

 est, as they simply vanish. What I 

 shot I come on unawares and got 

 them by a quick shot. 



F. A. Patton, 

 Artesian, South Dakota. 



A STORM MIGRATION 



I have been a student of bird life for 

 many years, but I saw the strangest 

 sight on August 20, 1923, that has ever 

 been my luck to see. 



It had been threatening rain since 

 1 o'clock p. m. and about 5:30 p. m. 

 it began thundering, and the wind 

 was blowing quite a gale from the 

 northwest. 



While outside, standing underneath 

 a large maple tree, I saw a few birds 

 headed southeast, but they were but 

 a few and didn't attract much atten- 

 tion. Upon looking up just a few mo- 

 ments later I saw a large flock of 

 birds winging their way southward. 

 I ran to the house for my field glasses 

 to try and find out what species they 

 were, and just as I returned to my 

 lookout tree, the flock passed over 



