THE OOLOGIST. 



91 



old locality lends the memory of the once 

 fcivorite tree, and the nest still in the crotch 

 cannot be deserted for, perhaps^ a more un- 

 favorable position. So the nest is repaired 

 — fresh evergreens are bestowed upon its 

 solid, time worn foundation, and when these 

 are arranged to satisfaction, a few feathers 

 are perhaps, placed in the shallow cavity ; 

 we know not with what hopes and fears the 

 anxious pair again await the appearance of 

 the Hawklets, and if not disturbed once 

 more by some calamity, can we, with all 

 our knowledge of bird-emotion, conceive 

 the joy of the faithful parents when the sea- 

 son of danger has been safely passed ? Our 

 only knowledge that the old nest is still the 

 only one with which its builders could be 

 contented, is the fact of their retm-n to it 

 on the following year. 



The Broad- winged Hawk is seldom seen 

 flying low over the ground in the manner 

 of the Red-tailed species, and is abroad 

 more in the open light of day than during 

 the afternoon or at sunset. Its quarry is 

 secured with a slow, decisive mien, and if 

 such can be procured without unnecessary 

 or undue exertion, so much the better, 

 though he is by no means a shiftless fellow. 

 The unwary Sparrow or field mouse that 

 chances within sight is qui kly dispatched, 

 though without flurried demonstration, and 

 devoured on the nearest stump, or of- 

 tener in a tree out of sight. The same re- 

 tiring disposition is always shown, and but 

 little is seen of it during breeding season ; the 

 deep recesses of the wood, or more general- 

 ly, the trees on the edge of the patch in 

 which its nest is built, form the station of 

 the male bird. We have often surprised 

 him in this situation, and in the case of one 

 nest, from which eggs were taken six times 

 in four successive seasons, the bird was al- 

 ways found to be in immediate proximity 

 to it, silently watching the surroundings ; 

 and it only took wing when it discovered 

 that the nest or itself had been seen. The 

 female bird, though shy, always upon leav- 

 ing the nest flew to some distance, silently 

 returning sliortly after and alighting on an 

 adjacent bough. 



The Crows seldom make this bird an ob- 

 ject of their attacks, — at least such has been 

 our experience — while there is no end to 

 the torment and abuse showered upon the 

 Red -shouldered, and especially the Red- 

 tailed species. Its sedate manners make it 

 less a target for roving sportsmen, and ren- 

 der it less susceptible to the wrath of the 

 farmer and his subordinates. If missed 

 when shot at, it either rises into the air and 

 sails about in continuous circles until fairly 

 out of sight of the hunter, or flies through 

 the trees until at a safe distance. One 

 poor shot usually warns the bird of a pos- 

 sible subsequent fate, and he is very diflScult 

 to approach thereafter ; yet, under some 

 circumstances it may be taken if the hunter 

 uses care. We once approached a Broad- 

 winged Hawk under the protection of the 

 thick leafy boughs of the tree on which it 

 was perched, and fired two shots blank at 

 the bird, before it could sufficiently recover 

 itself to fly off, and as it was, it had scarce- 

 ly launched itself, when it was fated to re- 

 ceive the contents of another charge. The 

 bird was never secured, for being only 

 wounded, it escaped in the underbrush of 

 the wood. 



Its numbers are most noticeable during 

 the months of July and Augxist, when, 

 from the appearance of so many in the air 

 at a time, one might consider it a very a- 

 bundant bird. 



Flycatching Woodpeckeks. — A wint- 

 er ill a recent number of the Fovest and 

 /Stream says in regard to this habit of the 

 Woodpecker: "At the time of which I 

 write, a pair of Red-heads were engaged in 

 rearing a brood in a hole which they had 

 excavated in the old tree-top. From lack 

 of his accustomed food, the bird took a po- 

 sition on the twisted lightning rod of the 

 house, and from this point of vantage dart- 

 ed with unerring aim upon his winged 

 prey, taking them always in mid-air, after 

 the manner of all Flycatchers." 



