22 THE OSPREY. 



is destroyed, when another set may be laid. Two eggs are the usual comple- 

 ment in this vicinity, though three are sometimes found. A deciduous tree is 

 usually chosen for the nest, though on one occasion a nest, which from the de- 

 scription of the bird and eggs I have every reason to believe was of this 

 species, was pointed out to me in a small pine. 



I found a nest containing two young but a day or so old, about forty feet 

 up in a white oak, on June 3, 1896. They had evidently been fed but re- 

 cently, as on dissection the remains of some small bird were found in their 

 crops. The young hawks were rather small, a little smaller than a young 

 chicken of the same age, and covered with a fluffy, yellowish-white down, be- 

 ing very pretty little objects, if it was not for their weak and altogether help- 

 less condition. 



The nest exteriorly somewhat resembles that of a well built nest of the 

 American Crow, but is a trifle smaller and more compactly built. In my ex- 

 perience it is always lined with flakes of bark, generally from the White Oak, 

 and contains a branch or so of green leaves. The leaves must be renewed 

 every day, as they are always fresh, and I have picked up small bunches of 

 wilted leaves from the ground under the nest that had evidently been discarded. 

 The height of the nest above the ground ranges from thirty to fifty-four feet 

 and it is always placed in a crotch of the main trunk. The nest is often 

 finished and left for some little time before eggs are deposited. In building, 

 the birds never seem to be in a hurry, and several days will elapse without 

 apparently anything being done. A few sticks a day, at the most, seem to 

 be the limit of their exertions, and, at this slow rate, it takes them fully three 

 to five weeks or more to complete their domicile. A new nest is generally 

 built every year, but sometimes they repair the old one and use it a second 

 season, probably to save time, as they are such slow builders. 



As this is primarily a hawk of the woods, being rarely found far away 

 from their shelter, it does little or no harm to poultry and but little to birds, 

 except in the breeding season when it has young to feed, when it occasionally 

 catches some of the smaller birds. It merits all the protection that can be 

 given it on account of the good it does in catching mice, insects and crayfish. 



The accompanying photograph was made by my friend, Mr. Paul Bartsch, 

 of a set taken by me June 4, 1901. It was situated in the crotch of 

 a chesnut tree, fifty-four feet from the ground. The nest contained the regu- 

 lar bark lining and bunch of green leaves, the latter showing up very 

 well in the picture. Incubation was nearly complete, but I was able to save 

 the set after considerable time. This nest was found when only one or two 

 sticks had been placed in the crotch, as mentioned above. 



Below I give a list of the remaining sets taken by me, which, though not 

 large, is considerable in view of the fact that no special effort has been made 



