120 THE NIDOLOGIST 
there to feed on the grain, and it rarely 
missed getting one for its breakfast. 
When in pursuit of their quarry they 
have very little regard to their safety. Once, 
while walking through some bushes where 
a flock of Tree Sparrows were feeding, a 
Sharp-shinned Hawk dashed into their 
midst and captured a bird not twenty teet 
from where I was standing. 
In nesting they generally seem to prefer 
a pine tree or a cedar,and occasionally they 
will make use of a hollow. ‘They are very 
noisy when one approaches their nest, and 
nearly always make known its location by 
their anxiety to drive one away. 
A nest I found May 29, 1892, was in a 
pine tree, thirty-five feet from the ground, 
and resting at the base ofa limb, close to 
the trunk, and contained five eggs, slightly 
incubated. ‘The birds were very tame and 
remained perched within a few feet of me, 
frequently darting quite close to my head. 
In Somerset county this Hawk on ac- 
count of its predaceous habits is called 
Subatavateetyym 
After being robbed of the first set ofeggs 
it will occasionally deposit a second set. 
Accipiter coopert.—Cooper’s Hawk. 
The ‘‘Long-tailed Chicken Hawk’’ is 
one of our most destructive Hawks as far 
as the poultry yard is concerned. It is also 
a terrible enemy of our game birds. I have 
often seen them ‘‘beating’’ over a field 
which I knew one or more covies of Par- 
tridges were in the habit of frequenting. 
This Hawk is one of the late nesters, the 
eggs, four or five in number, being depos- 
ited about the middle of May. 
It is resident except during very severe 
winters. 
Accipiter atricapillus:—Am. Goshawk. 
The Goshawk inhabits principally the 
more northern portions of the eastern half 
of the United States; at times, during the 
winter months, they are found, sparingly, 
as far south as Maryland, one being killed 
at Sandy Springs, Montgomery county, 
Dec. 27, 87. (Dr. A. K. Fisher, ‘“‘Hawks 
and Owls of U.S.’’). 
They are very destructive to the farmer’s 
poultry yard as well as to the wild game 
birds. 
Buteo borealis:—Red-tailed Hawk. 
This well-known ‘‘Hen Hawk’’ is a 
fairly abundant resident, being more com- 
mon during the winter months. Although 
calleda ‘‘Hen Hawk, the name is inapprop- 
priate, as it is seldom that it disturbs the 
poultry yard. Still, it occasionally does, 
and I once saw a Red-tail strike one of our 
old hens, striking so hard that it was un- 
able to extricate its talons, and as the 
weight of the fowl was too much for it to 
carry, it was unable to escape, and was 
killed with a stick. 
Its principal food consists of rabbits, 
squirrels, rats, mice, snakes, frogs, insects, 
etc. 
They will remain perched for hours at a 
time on a favorite limb, but if a person tries 
to sneak a march, he will soon find that 
Buteo is wide awake, in spite of his seem- 
ing apathy. 
The nest, which is resorted to from year 
to year, is generally built in a very tall 
tree, and the eggs (usually two) are depos- 
ited about March 20. - 
This Hawk especially delights in soaring, 
and it is not an infrequent sight to see a 
pair sailing about, so high that they look 
like mere specks in the heavens. 
Buteo lineatus:—Red-shouldered Hawk. 
Resident, and next to the preceeding 
species the most abundant of our larger 
Hawks. Whilst it is also called a ‘‘Hen 
Hawk,’’ it is very lowly in its diet, and out 
of two hundred and twenty stomachs exani- 
ined by Dr. A. K. Fisher, at Washington, 
D. C., only three contained remains of 
poultry. It is especially fond of frogs. 
In nesting it generally chooses a lower 
situation than the Red-tailed Hawk; the 
eggs, two to four in number, being depos- 
ited during the latter part ot March. 
Luteo latissimus:—Broad-winged Hawk. 
A very tame and inoffensive Hawk, and 
is generally found about heavily timbered 
bottom lands. Frequently, while wander- 
ing along a trout stream in the solitute of 
the woods, my attenticn has been drawn 
to one of these birds by hearing its shrill 
whistle within a few yards of me, and look- 
ing up I would see it perched in a tree 
looking at me. There it would remain, 
totally indifferent to my presence, until 
through with its scrutiny of me, it would 
fly a few yards and alight in another tree. 
It nests late, usually depositing three, 
sometimes two and rarely four eggs, about 
the third week in May. A nest found by 
my brother, May 23, 1892, was sixty feet up 
in a chestnut tree, and contained three 
slightly incubated eggs. 
Resident except during severe winters, 
but at no time abundant with us. 
