266 THe Witson BULLETIN—NOos. 76-77. 
Incubation. 
This bird is a devoted brooder, both sexes assisting, as tes- 
tified by Messrs. Banks, Bendire, Knight, and verified by my- 
self. An almost invariable sign that incubation is progressing, 
is the down feathers adhering to the nest. Chas. Richards 
nicely illustrates the secretiveness and close sitting of the 
species in his notes of a set taken in an open wood or park, 
Norwich, Ct., May 20, ‘0S. He says that on the 17th a man 
and woman were practicing at a mark with a 22 calibre rifle 
within 100 yards of the nest where the hawk was sitting. On 
Sunday afternoon 54 people were counted within sight of the 
nest at one time, and a woman with a couple of children roam- 
inf around was actually sitting on a rock under the nest, all 
unconscious of its tenant. George L. Hamlin relates an instance 
where the birds had been sitting about ten days when a neigh- 
bor to whom he had revealed the nest, from a mistaken sense 
of duty, shot the female from the nest. The male completed 
the incubation, and later, the single young was procured and 
reared in confinement when nearly fledged. Again, early in 
May, ’93, a nest was found just completed. No eggs were 
ever deposited and but one bird seen in the vicinity. At every 
visit he showed as much solicitude as if it was occupied, and 
several times upon ascending, fresh green poplar leaves had 
been added to the lining. The nest was not deserted until the 
latter part of June; the conclusion that it was built by an un- 
mated or bereaved male, seems well founded. 
An ancient trick, often very much abused, is to replace an 
incomplete set with the eggs of the domestic hen, and the 
Buteo’s utter lack of discrimination is evinced by brooding 
over it for many days. The female not infrequently sits on 
the nest a short time every day for several days before an 
ege is laid. J. Claire Wood adds his testimony to mine in this, 
having witnessed an instance. 
John H. Flanagan believes incubation begins with the first 
egg. In support of this he relates two instances: Nest found 
in Kent Co., R. L.. May 18, ‘01, contained one egg, and two on 
the 26th, one well begun in incubation and one fresh. A set 
