THE OOLOGIST 



121 



monest Hawks there all year around 

 are Broad Winged and Red-shouldered, 

 and in the fall there are Sharp-shinned 

 and some Marsh Hawks. In the win- 

 ter Goss Hawks are quite plentiful, 

 hut are not there at any other time. 

 Pigeon Hawks are occasionally seen 

 hut are scarce. Red-tailed Hawks are 

 not found there at all. Barred Owls 

 and Great Horned Owls are very plent- 

 iful. Snow Owls are taken occasional- 

 ly. 



M. J. Hofman. 



» ♦ » 



Nesting of Mallard Duck at Branch- 

 port, N. Y. 



The prohibiting of spring shooting 

 seems to have encouraged the ducks 

 to stay longer with us each spring 

 and occasionally a pair or two of Mal- 

 lards and Black Ducks remain to nest 

 now. Last year a Mallard had her 

 nest in a bunch of Royal Ferns in a 

 narrow strip of alders. It was first 

 found May 14th when she flew up 

 directly from the nest ' revealing 

 eleven eggs in a nice ring of down . It 

 was the 29th before the nest was again 

 visited and then it contained only ten 

 eggs, one having disappeared since 

 my first visit. After this I visited the 

 nest nearly every day and approach 

 ing very carefully I tried to get a 

 photo of the female on the nest but al- 

 though I could get near enough to see 

 her she always left just before I got 

 within camera range. 



The afternoon of June 4th found 

 the eggs hatching, six young out and 

 four eggs with the shell breaking. The 

 female sat close until I was within 

 twelve feet then fiuttered away and 

 rose into the air circling around few 

 times then dropped into a nearby 

 field. Several times she came and 

 flew around the nest while I was there. 

 The young were not yet dry but one 

 of them managed to scramble out of 

 the nest into the water and I had to 



catch and hold them into the nest 

 several times before they would be 

 still so I could get a picture. When 

 wet the young gave off a rather 

 offensive odor. 



The female was circling around as 

 I left and when after about fifteen 

 minutes I went quietly back she was 

 on the nest with her young about her 

 coddling them with her bill. 



Next morning I found the nest 

 empty with a dead duckling in the 

 water just over the edge. A thorough 

 search of the entire growth of alders 

 failed to reveal either the mother duck 

 or the young and I was unable to lo- 

 cate them during the summer. How- 

 ever a female Mallard and family were 

 seen in the inlet several times in 

 August and September and I have no 

 doubt that they were this same fam- 

 ily. 



Many times before the nest was 

 found I saw a Mallard Duck and 

 Drake together but never once did I 

 see the drake after the nest was found. 



Verdi Burtch. 



California Towhee 



The Californian Towhee, commonly 

 called Bush Robin, is found through- 

 out most of California west of the 

 Sierra Nevada. 



Like the familiar American Robin 

 of the east the California Towhee is 

 one of the most donietic birds of Cali- 

 fornia. If unmolested it builds its 

 nest near the house and in conse- 

 quence is always on the lookout for 

 its enemy, the house cat and in this 

 locality the small boy with an air-gun 

 is more to be dreaded than the cat. 

 I have found their nests in vine 

 covered bushes and small trees in 

 thickets up to flfteen feet from the 

 ground. One pair nested in our vine- 

 covered wind-mill flfteen feet from 

 the house and raised four young but 

 the small boy with the air-gun was in 



