AUDUBON'S CARACAKA, 317 



panions tnat may happen to see it at once pursue, and a chase follows, 

 very different from what is seen among true Vultures. The nests are bulky 

 platforms of small branches, with a slight depression lined with fine twigs, 

 roots, and grasses, or sometimes altogether without lining ; they are placed 

 in trees or on the tops of bushes at no great height from the ground. Both 

 sexes incubate.. I have not found more than two eggs in one nest, and 

 these are laid at intervals of three or four days."^ 



In southern Florida the nests are usually placed on the tops of the 

 cabbage palmettos, nidification beginning the first week in April. In South 

 America, according to Mr. Darwin's statement, it nests occasionally in cliffs. 

 With us it does not seem to do this, their nests being ustially found in ti-ees 

 of various kinds, palmettos and sahuaras (Cereus giganteus). A nest brought 

 to Mr. Brown's notice in Arizona was placed in a large Palo Verde tree, 

 which contained three nearly fresh eggs on May 1, 1889. 



I noticed these birds frequently about the outskirts of my camp on Ril- 

 litto Creek, near Tucson, Arizona, during the eighteen months I was stationed 

 there, from October, 1871, to March, 1873. They were generally seen in 

 pairs, foraging for such kitchen refuse as they could find in the vicinity of 

 the camp. Although I never allowed them to be molested in any way, they 

 were at all times exceedingly shy and difficult to approach closely, scarcely 

 ever coming within range of a shotgun. A great part of their time seemed 

 to be spent on the ground, walking around in search of food, and I believe 

 that a good deal of their hunting is done in this way. Their food, besides 

 rabbits and small rodents, consists largely of lizards, beetles, grasshoppers, and 

 snakes. I saw one of these birds engaged in quite an encounter with a good 

 sized snake which had partly coiled itself about its neck, both bird and snake 

 struggling for a few minutes at quite a lively rate. The Caracara had the 

 best of the fight, however, and before I could get to the place, the bird was 

 off with its quarry, the snake still squirming and twisting about in its talons. 

 I was disappointed in not being able to learn the species to which it be- 

 longed. On but a single occasion did I see more than a pair together; this 

 was on June 20, 1872, when a party of four were seen feeding a short dis- 

 tance below my camp. 



Nidification begins in southern Texas sometimes as early as the middle 

 of February, but usually about the first week in March; in other localities 

 generally not until the beginning of April, and in Arizona about the latter 

 part of the month. But one brood is raised in a season; incubation, as with 

 the majority of the Raptores, lasting probably about four weeks. Both sexes 

 incubate, and the eggs are deposited at intervals of several days. They are 

 usually two or three in number, the smaller sets being somewhat more fre- 

 quent. The shell is comparatively smooth and not as thick as is usual among 

 the larger Raptores. The eggs are rounded ovate in shape; the ground 

 color when visible, which is not often the case, is creamy white, and in the 



' Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. i, 1878, p. 153. 



