I70 



THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



Notes on the Sharp-shinned Hatuk. 



THIC Sharp-shinned, or "Pigeon" 

 Hawk, as it is often erroneously 

 called, is the smallest Hawk breeding 

 commonly in this part of the United States. 

 It is, I believe, more or less common in all 

 parts of the United States, but, having 

 never seen a very full description of its 

 nesting habits, I give what experience I 

 have had in eastern Massachusetts. 



It is the only Hawk of my acquaintance 

 that prefers to build away from some clear- 

 ing, as with the Red-shouldered and 

 Cooper's Hawk an average of nine nests out 

 of ten are almost always within a few yards 

 of some frequently used woodpath. The 

 Sharp-shinned is of an entirely different na- 

 ture, for I have found but one nest less than 

 seventy-five yards trom a road. This was 

 placed twenty-five feet from the ground in a 

 pine tree standing hardly ten steps from the 

 main road, and my attention was drawn to 

 it by the loud cries of the male bird. Some 

 writers maintain that a thick, low cedar 

 swamp is the best ground in which to 

 .search for the nest, while others are positive 

 that the favorite breeding places are in 

 groves of pine in the high land. As a mat- 

 ter of fact, I think one place is as good as the 

 other (so long as it is at a ".sate" distance 

 from civilization), but consider the for- 

 mer theory somewhat preferable from the 

 fact that of eleven nests that I have found, 

 eight were in cedar swamps. It is one of 

 the most difficult of the Raptores to flush 

 from the nest, seldom leaving until the 

 climber has nearly reached its domicile, and 

 for this reason I am sure that many sets 

 have been hatched that would otherwi.se be 

 in collections. Both the male and female 

 assist in incubation, the former not being 

 nearly j:o brave as his mate. 



The nest is placed from ten to forty-five 

 feet from the ground, usually about twenty- 

 five, in a pine or a cedar tree fin the latter 

 case as near the top as possible), and is 

 about two-thirds as large as that of the 

 Crow. It is made of sticks of from quarter 



to half an inch in diameter, lined with 

 small twigs so neatly interlaced as to 

 form a smooth though hard bed for the eggs, 

 and often concealed in such a manner as to 

 give the Oologist an interesting search be- 

 fore finding it. When the nest is approached 

 the bird that is not incubating invariablj' 

 gives vent to its indignation by loud cries 

 resembling the syllables yip-yip-yip-yip- 

 yip-yip, increasing in rapidity towards the 

 end, and repeated every few seconds with 

 so much meaning that no true Oologist can 

 rest until he has found the object for all 

 these appeals. I have never known one of 

 the.se birds to come nearer the intruder than 

 twenty feet, but cannot say what they 

 would do if the nest contained young, as I 

 have never been fortunate, or perhaps I 

 should sa}' unfortunate, enough to find 

 anything but eggs. 



The .set of eggs is usually completed by 

 the 25th of May in this locality, although I 

 have found incubated eggs as early as May 

 10, and varies in number from three to five, 

 four or five being most commonly found. 

 The ground color varies from creamy or 

 greenish-white to grey, blotched and 

 streaked with purplish-brown, cinnamon- 

 brown or greenish-brown and grey. In a 

 .set of five, taken by my brother and my- 

 self, two are clouded ver}' similarly to eggs 

 of the vSparrow Havv'k, the other three 

 being blotched and streaked as usual, 

 which is rather a rare set, as they are 

 usually marked more or less alike. The 

 dimensions also vary considerably, the 

 largest egg in my collection measuring 1.57 

 in. X 1.28 in., the smallest 1.39 in. x 1.19 

 in., but the average is about 1.48 in. x 1.19 

 in. I have read that if the first set is 

 taken, a second and sometimes a third set 

 are often laid in the same nest. Now, I 

 have no intention of posing as an authority, 

 but of several "first" sets taken by me onl}' 

 two birds laid .second .sets, both building 

 new nests, and none laid third sets (that I 

 could find). I have, besides, never known 

 a nest to be used twice. 



I regret exceedingly that the photo of 

 nest and eggs could not have been taken 

 while in the tree, but I have yet to find a 

 nest where this would be possible, this nest 

 being in the very top of a cedar tree where 

 the trunk was not an inch in diameter, and 

 all others in like positions or in very dark 

 woods. 



J. H. Bowles. 



Ponkapog, Mass. 



