THE OOLOGIST. 



179 



an overhanging bnsh, that making it 

 very difficult to find. It is generally 

 composed of dr^' grass, carelessly thrown 

 together and kept in its place by the 

 weight of a few dead sticks, and, to 

 finish up the work of art, a scanty lin- 

 ing of feathers is added. 



When the same site is used foi- several 

 years in succession, the mass of material 

 often forms a platform of considerable 

 size. 



They usually lay from four to six 

 eggs, though as many as eight have been 

 found. As is the case with most Hawks, 

 the period of incubation is about four 

 weeks, in no case does it vary more 

 than a few days. The male assists the 

 female in in(!ubating the eggs aiKl in 

 feeding the j'oung. During the time 

 the young are being fed, the male often 

 drops the food to the female from a 

 considerable height as he passes near 

 the nest, she darting iipward and catch- 

 ing it before it reaches the ground. 



The Marsh Ha\vk fights with great 

 fury to protect its young from intruders 

 and has been known to attack persons. 

 After the young are reared and leaA^e 

 the nest, they remain together and, as 

 fall advances, several families unite and 

 fly southwai'd. For this reason it is not 

 iinusual, during the fall, to see foi-ty or" 

 flfty individuals at one time, scattered 

 over some extensive mai'sh. 



When the Hawk discovers prey, it 

 poises for a moment and then drops 

 quickly upon it. If unsuccessful, it 

 is sure to beat over the same place 

 again before leaving. 



The food of the Marsh Hawk consists 

 largely of field mice, ground squirrels, 

 frogs, snakes, lizards and small birds. 

 They also occasionally carry off poultry 

 and game birds, though its economic 

 value as a destroyer of pests is so great 

 that its slight offense should be par- 

 doned. Unfortunately, however, farm- 

 ers and sportsmen slaughter it at sight, 

 ignorant of the fact that it is a faithful 

 slave that he is killing and that it pre- 



serves an immense quantity of grain, 

 thousands of fruit trees and a large 

 number of game birds' nests by destroy- 

 ing the vermin which eat the grain, 

 girdle the trees and devour the eggs and 

 young of the birds; but it seems an 

 impossibility to impress this fact upon 

 the mind of any farmer or sportsman. 

 The Marsh Hawk is the most benefi- 

 cial of all Hawks and should be protect- 

 ed by law. 



ROBT. R. Scouso, 



Afton, N. J. 



The Plain Titmouse. 



On May 16, 1890, I thought I had 

 found a Sparrow Hawk's nest in a large 

 sycamore, so I started to climb to it. 



At the base of the first limb was a 

 hole, and upon putting my hand in it I 

 heard a hissing noise similar to that 

 which an Owl makes, and as I did not 

 want the Owl, I poked a stfck in the 

 hole, and in a few moments a small 

 bird flew out, which I supposed, in the 

 twilight, was a Pygmy Owl, and, upon 

 examination found four eggs in the 

 nest, which proved, however, to be 

 those of the Plain Titmouse. One egg 

 is white; two are very slightly dotted 

 over with light brown and the other 

 one is very thickly spotted and slightly 

 blotched with light brown. 



They average in size .65 x .51. 



The nest was composed of ^rool and 

 feathers. 



I afterwards visited the nest (on June 

 10th,) and hearing the hissing noise I 

 this time caught the bird and after 

 examiug it, let it go. 



As near as I can remember the color 

 was gray throughout and very plain as 

 the name indicates. 



It had a crest on its head. 



The nest contained two j^oung and 

 two fresh eggs. 



Fred A. Schneider, 

 Santa Clara Co., Cala. 



