On the Nesting of the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo 



platypterus) and Goshawk (Astur atricapillus) 



in Pennsylvania 



BY ROBERT P. SHARPLES 



Every year the Broad-winged Hawks are becoming more 

 numerous in Chester county. They seem to be spreading over 

 this territory much as the Barn Owls did a few years ago. The 

 first nest of which I have record was found near Hershey's Mill 

 on May 3, 1891, and two eggs was taken from it by S. B. Ladd. 

 He was passing along a nearby road on May 1, when he met a 

 man carrying a dead Broad-winged Hawk, which had just been 

 shot. A search two days later resulted in finding the living 

 parent incubating the eggs. They had been laid in an old nest 

 of the Cooper's Hawk, about seventy feet up, in a chestnut 

 sprout, which grew in the woods near a pond. Within the last 

 five years one to three pair of these hawks have been located as 

 breeding near West Chester every season, and this spring I have 

 found seven nests without making any especial search for them. 

 There is a nest about 70 feet high, in the Castle Rock Woods, and 

 four others are in the Brandywine Valley near Downingtown. 



Formerly the Cooper's Hawk and the Red-tail were the most 

 numerous hawks hereabouts. Now I never find more than one 

 of each of these in a season, and they have become rare as 

 breeders. The Broad-winged Hawk, which has taken their 

 place, generally builds its nest in May, just as the forest leaves 

 are coming out, and it benefits from their shelter. The nest is 

 always a new one, so far as my experience goes, with the single 

 exception noted above ; and usually but two eggs are laid, though 

 this year every nest examined had three eggs in it. In one case 

 where a set of perfectly fresh eggs was taken the birds laid a 

 second set, and I am inclined to think this is a usual occurrence. 

 Green leaves, pulled nearby, were found on every set of eggs. 



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