i8 



IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



its capture. 



These hawks flew around 

 there for a couple of weeks, then 

 it became evident that they 

 were nesting again. We have a 

 friend in Cedar Rapids by the 

 name of Bert Bailey who was 

 very desirous of securing a set of 

 the eggs of this hawk so we in- 

 vited him down when we thought 

 the set was complete, and he 

 took a set of three which he now 

 has in his collection. This was 

 the second set taken from those 

 birds that season and these eggs 

 were taken from a new nesting 

 site, which was in the same cliff, 

 but about forty feet below the 

 first nest. The hole was about three 

 feet deep, and contained some 

 sandy clay, in which the birds 

 had scratched a slight depression 

 and deposited their eggs. 



A pair of hawks, presumably 

 the same, nested at the palisades 

 again this year, but in a new 

 place. I located them in the 

 early part of April in the same 

 cliff they had nested in a year 

 before. There is a lime-kiln in 

 course of construction near the 

 old nesting site and I think the 

 continuous noise there caused 

 them to leave the immediate 

 neighborhood. I did not go to 

 look for them again till about 

 time for them to have a full set 



of eggs. I went down to the old 

 nest, but it was deserted, and I 

 did not locate them in their new 

 quarter, till the young had just 

 kicked out of the shell — the 

 youngest chick being not quite 

 dry. They had nested about a 

 half mile below the old nesting 

 place on a ledge about fifteen 

 inches square and hid by a bush. 

 The ledge was about twenty feet 

 from the top of the bluff and 

 thirty feet from the w^ater. The 

 young were all killed before they 

 could fly very much, but the old 

 birds escaped and -I hope to re- 

 cord at least one set of this 

 hawk's eggs in the year 1896. 

 Yon can see how persistent they 

 are in returning to a favorite 

 nesting place after they are con- 

 tinually robbed. 



We can not but admire the 

 swift flight of this hawk. The 

 valiant courage with which he 

 drives away any interloper from 

 his favorite hunting ground; the 

 fortitude and persistence he 

 displays in returning to a favor- 

 ite nesting place though contn- 

 ually robbed and harrassed, and 

 particularly the beautiful eggs 

 which add beauty to any col- 

 lection, but we have no grounds 

 to defend him when judged from 

 an economic standpoint as he is 

 not known to destroy any ro- 



