182 



THi 66L6dl«t 



days late, and then found her sitting 

 on four of her own eggs (one slightly 

 dented) and two of a Cowbunting. 

 This parasite can find a nest to lay in 

 even in a swamp. 



The Black and White nest both 

 where the ground is damp and where 

 it is dry here. They are one of the 

 first "Warblers to come in the spring. 

 A very common breeder, but finding 

 a nest is pure luck as a rule. Never 

 having seen one securing nesting ma- 

 terial from such a source, made the 

 sight of unusual interest, but as I 

 have only seen a small percent of 

 the Black and Whites in the world, 

 do not mention this as a record, but 

 rather as unusual. 



R. I. Giles, 

 Marlboro, Mass. 



NESTING HABITS OF THE BROAD- 

 WINGED HAWK 



With the exception of the Sparrow 

 Hawk and of the Redtail, the Broad- 

 winged Hawk is the most abundant 

 breeding hawk in this part of Alberta. 

 It is of a retiring disiposition and 

 seldom seen out of the iwoods dn 

 which it breeds. I first became ac- 

 quainted with it in the Spring of 1913 

 and recognized it immediately, chiefly 

 from the description of its note as re- 

 sembling that of the Wood Pewee, 

 given in Fisher's Hawks and Owls of 

 the United States. This note has 

 rather a mournful sound and my ren- 

 dering of it is Pick-ee or Chick-ee. 

 Often this call of the birds is the 

 first intimation you have that a nest 

 is not far off, and it is usually easily 

 found, after you 'have located one of 

 the birds, in the breeding season. 



The Broad-wing does not frequent 

 such heavy timber as the G-oshawk 

 and the nests are usually at no great 

 height from the ground. Those I 

 have taken were from about fifteen to 

 forty feet up, the majority being be- 



tween fifteen and twenty-five feet. 



Sometimes a new nest is built and 

 at others an old nest is repaired and 

 usually the nest used the previous 

 year will be found at no great dis- 

 tance away. While a nest is being 

 taken, both birds remain in the vi- 

 cinity, flying from tree to tree, and 

 calling Chick-ee or Pick-ee at inter- 

 vals. They never offer to attack the 

 climber like the Goshawk. 



They are late breeders and I have 

 taken eggs from May 17th to June 

 27th, but from May 20t\h to June 1st, 

 just when the poplars are leafing out, 

 appears to be the height of the breed- 

 ing season. 



Three eggs is the full equipment 

 and I have never seen more in a nest. 

 My first nest was taken May 23rd, 

 1913. It was an old nest, repaired, 

 and there were several other nests 

 close by. It was made of dead sticks 

 with a few green poplars twigs laid 

 around the edge and a lining of green 

 leaves. It was about twenty-five feet 

 up in a poplar. 



Another nest taken June 3rd, 1914, 

 was about thirty feet up in a Spruce, 

 It rested on horizontal branches 

 against the trunk, and was composed 

 of dead sticks and lined with pieces 

 of dry poplar bark and a few green 

 spruce and poplar twigs with the 

 leaves on. 



I have examined fourteen nests in 

 all of the Broad-wing and all have 

 had this finish of green twigs and 

 leaves. The nests are rather flimsily 

 built and quite shallow. Of the four- 

 teen nests examined by me, twelve 

 were in Poplars and only two in 

 Spruce trees. 



A. D. Henderson, 

 Belvidere, Alberta. 



