92 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Hawking. 



Of all the egg collecting I think hawking 

 is the most exciting, as well as dangerous, 

 on account of the great height at which 

 they generally build ; but the collector is 

 well rewarded when, after a laborious and 

 dangerous climb, he beholds his first set of 

 handsome Hawk eggs as they lay in the 

 nest. And how much more highly prized 

 are eggs secured in this manner than a set 

 secured by exchanging or purchasing. 

 After several successful seasons' collecting, 

 I will give the readers of The Oologist a 

 description of what I find to be the best 

 outfit for such an expedition. First, a 

 good-sized box filled with sawdust (which, 

 by the way, I find to be much better than 

 cotton,) for your eggs; a sharp hatchet; a 

 pound or two of spikes; about 100 feet of 

 |-inch rope; a ball of stout twine, and last 

 but not least, a good, big lunch (for egg 

 collectors are always hungry while in the 

 woods, at least I am), and a good pair 

 of climbers. My climbers have two-inch 

 spikes, and are made especially for thick- 

 bark trees. They will, however, answer 

 for any kind of a tree. With this outfit I 

 defy any tree in the country. I prefer a 

 cold or rainy day in which to hunt for 

 hawks' eggs, as the old bird is most sure to 

 be on the nest should there be eggs in it. 

 If possible, take a companion along with 

 you; put the bulk of the outfit on him, 

 and be sure and make as much noise as 

 possible, so as to frighten all the hawks in 

 the county, and thereby make an extra 

 amount of useless climbing for yourself — 

 for, if you are quiet, you can generally 

 coimt on Mr. Hawk being at home or in 

 the immediate vicinity. I very seldom 

 climb a tree unless I see the Hawk around 

 or am positive it is a new nest. 



Do not be afraid of starting out too early 

 in the Spring. I always like to get the lay 

 of the land, etc. Better too early than too 

 late. You can invariably look for Red- 

 Tails on high ground, both in clearings and 

 in heavy timber. Horned Owls and Red 

 Shoulder Hawks in bottom land, and in 

 fact most anywhere suits them. Buzzards 

 in hollow logs and stumps. 



You ctin look for Horned Owls from 

 February 1st to March 1st — have never 

 found their eggs later. Red-Tails from 

 March 1st to May 1st, and they invariably 

 lay again after being robbed the first time; 

 you can generally look for their second set 

 about a month after they have been robbed 

 of the first, and generally in the same 

 locality but seldom in the same nest. I 

 have secured two sets each season from the 

 same pair of Hawks for the last four 

 seasons and in the same grove (a ten acre 

 grove). My first pair of Red-Tails taken 

 was on March 25. It was snowing and 

 sleeting quite hard. The nest was in a 

 sycamore; it was covered with sleet, and it 

 was impossible to get up with the climbers. 

 The wind was blowing so hard that I could 

 not throw a string over the lowest limb, 

 which was at least fifty feet up, so I could 

 not use my rope ; but, nothing daunted, I 

 made a good fire and started to nail cleats 

 all the way up. It was slow, tedious work, 

 for I had to come down every few minutes 

 and thaw myself out and then go at it 

 again, and was finally rewarded with a 

 handsome set of three fresh eggs. I arrived 

 home dripping wet, tired and liungry, but 

 none the worse for my trip. I consider 

 the cleats and ropes much safer than the 

 climbers and generally use the rope myself, 

 as it is much quicker than nailing on cleats, 

 though possibly not quite so safe. I will 

 now give a list of the sets of Raptores, etc , 

 that I have had the good fortune to secure 

 in the last two seasons only, and at some 

 other time the incidents connected with the 

 collecting of the several sets : 



March 10, 1886— Set a, great Horned 

 Owl; the eggs were 2, placed in an old 

 Red-tail's nest, in an oak, 60 feet up. Incu- 

 bation, advanced. 



March 25 — Set a, 3 eggs; Red- tail Hawk; 

 nest in an oak, 67 feet up. Incubation, 5 

 days. 



March 25 — Set b, 3 eggs; Red-tail Hawk; 

 nest in an oak, 45 feet up. Incubation, 4 

 days. 



March 29 — Set e, 2 eggs; Red-tail Hawk; 

 nest in an oak, 55 feet up. Incubation, 

 about ^. 



