DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 9 



great elevation. The male was diving at the female. After a 

 number of passes, she took a direct course for the great meadows 

 which border the narrow pond. The male appeared to be 

 satisfied with this, and at once ceased his coercive tactics. Using 

 this incident as a clue, I went directly to the meadows, noting 

 one of the hawks drifting about in their aimless way. Part of 

 the surface had been burned over within a few months. Pass- 

 ing this I came to a wide expanse, thickly covered with grasses 

 or sedges, high and low bush huckleberries and dwarf laurel. 



Almost at once, the slaty blue male, balanced on his upturned 

 wings, began to utter an alarm cry, — a cack, cack, cack, cack, 

 repeated at frequent intervals. This seemed suspicious, for 

 usually the Marsh Hawk is silent. Soon the female arrived from 

 somewhere, and joined the male in maledictions upon the really 

 harmless intruder. Her voice was more of a scream, although 

 the syllables were similar to the male's. I do not know whether 

 this is a constant difference or whether it may have been due to 

 temporary excess of feminine indignation. Without delay, she 

 began to charge. Starting about a hundred yards away, she 

 flew straight at my face, turning up and passing over when 

 about ten feet distant. I could plainly see the ring of feathers 

 on her face, the yellow color of her eyes, and the yellow feet, 

 with black claws, laid back below the tail. 



Moving slowly in the direction from which she always came, 

 I finally saw a mouldy-looking bunch of something, on the 

 ground, and nearly hidden by the bushes. It took me a mo= 

 ment to realize the truth. That bunch was one of the young, 

 covered with whitish down, through which the black and brown 

 feathers were protruding in spots. Nearby on the ground were 

 two others of the family, while the fourth rested on the nest. 

 This was a grassy mound, much flattened, and nearly level on 

 top. 



The young all held motionless poses of defiance, mouths open 

 and lead-colored eyes intently fixed. When one of them was 

 vexed beyond endurance, it raised its wings, rose on its long 

 legs, and doubtless did its best to convince me that I was in 

 mortal danger of annihilation. During the half hour of my 

 stay, the screaming mother did not cease to cut the air above 

 my head. 



