being some few Caracaras, feeding on the 
carcasses of several dead mammals. One 
empty nest of Polyborus was discovered and 
although empty it showed signs of being 
used in the near future as fresh broom-weed 
had very lately been added. ‘The elm tree 
containing this nest was located almost 
within the original bed of the stream, and 
its limbs were covered with a mass of mus- 
tang grape, rattan and other vines, while up 
the trunk ran a myriad of vines of that 
curse to the field naturalist—poison ivy. 
After leaving the woods at this point we 
drove over the prairie to the southwest, 
and through a flat covered with thin, 
scraggy mesquite timber, with an occasional 
sweet-gum, honey-locust and elm tree scat- 
tered here and there. Here we found sev- 
eral nests in mesquite, honey-locust and 
sweet-gum trees. From one of these a set 
of two eggs was taken, and two nests had 
been newly repaired and fresh building 
material added. Several Caracaras were 
seen, besides the pair to whom the eggs 
belonged. I am quite certain that had I 
the opportunity of revisiting the two nests 
mentioned a few days later I would have 
found them containing eggs. Nests of the 
Caracaras that I have examined in the 
vicinity of the Bosque river north of Waco 
were usually located in rather low, bushy 
trees which were growing on the borders of 
sparsely timbered tracts. ‘Those found here 
differed from those on the prairies by being 
composed of slender branches, rarely lined 
with roots and grasses. Those on the 
prairies were with two exceptions composed 
entirely of broom-weed without any lining 
whatever. One of these two was constructed 
of strips of rattan vine, the other of broom- 
weed, with a firm foundation of coarse twigs 
and branches, The nests are situated at 
elevations ranging from eighteen to twenty- 
five feet from the ground; usually about 
eighteen. A friend informs me that he has 
found nests of this species en cliffs which 
were favorite breeding places of the Black 
Vulture. On noting the extremely shallow 
depression in the nests of the Caracara, I 
have often wondered if the eggs and young 
are not often destroyed by rolling out and 
falling to the ground. In this species both 
sexes assist in the duties of incubation. In 
some cases the pair of birds that had been 
known to occupy a certain. nest were ob- 
served in the vicinity of it during the most 
of the year. 
The breeding season in this (McLennan) 
THE NIDOLOGIST 37 
county is somewhat later than in the more 
southern secticns of the state. Fresh eggs 
are taken here from about the middle of 
March to the middle of May. Mr. James 
Carroll who has been collecting in Refugio 
county, southern Texas, stated in a letter 
written under date of March 26, that he 
had taken eleven sets of this species up to 
that date, the first being taken during the 
last week of February. He also mentioned 
that all sets excepting one were of three 
eges each. In this section sets of two are 
as common, if not more so, than those con- 
sisting of three. 
In this locality I notice that the breeding 
seasons of the majority of our Raptores ex- 
tends longer than in many other sections. 
The eggs of the Turkey Vulture have 
been taken here as early as the first week 
in March, and I have a set of two which 
were taken on the last of May, and were 
perfectly fresh when collected. The breed- 
ing period of most of our Hawks extends 
much longer than is recorded from other 
sections of the South. This especially ap- 
plies to the case of the ABuzeos. 
Although I have been long acquainted 
with the food habits of the adult Polydorus, 
until the present year I was not awareas to 
whether the young were fed both upon car- 
rion and freshly killed animals or merely 
upon the latter class of food. In my former 
notes I made the statement that the remains 
of rather large mammals were often found 
in the vicinity of their nests containing 
young, or strewn around the bases of the 
trees in which they were located. ‘This is 
quite true. Mr. J. W. Mann, Jr., found 
the skull and several leg bones of an opos- 
sum at the base of a tree containing a long- 
used nest of the Caracara. Dead mammals 
are commonly found lying around in the 
woods and fields in the near vicinity of the 
nests examined on April 21; on one day 
during the season of ’95 I took note of those 
upon whose carcasses I found Vultures and 
Caracaras feeding, and among them were 
several domestic animals, a small skunk 
(Spilogales—sp. ?), an opposum (Didelphys 
virginianus) and three rabbits. One of 
these last was a cotton-tail, the others, 
specimens of the great jack or mule-eared 
rabbit. From this I infer that the young 
Caracaras are not only fed upon birds and 
mammals captured by their parents, but 
also upon carrion matter in the form of 
such dead animals as it is possible for them 
to carry to their nests.—Waco, Texas. 
