THE OOLOGIST 



99 



some. The two larger ones were cross 

 and one could scarcely touch them, 

 and it made them mad to point your 

 finger at them and one had to be care- 

 ful for their yellow feet would fly, 

 one of the other larger ones seemed 

 quite docile. The wing feathers a 

 bit more grown and the tail feathers 

 coming. Except the smallest one, 

 none of the young birds were in the 

 nest. After staying about for a while 

 I left as the parents were becoming 

 weary. 



On the 8th of July, 2.6 inches of rain 

 fell; or during the first eight days of 

 July, 6.5 inches. This rain raised 

 the water in the creek and flooded the 

 lowlands. 



July 9th, the mother flew from the 

 nest where only two of the young 

 Hawks were left; the others drowned 

 and by what means these two escaped 

 I do not know. One suspicions the 

 parents were responsible somehow, 

 for the nest must have been under 

 water for a while. The two largest 

 and crossest of the five were left, and 

 today were very formidable little 

 birds, beginning to feather out on the 

 back as well as the wings and tail. 

 The next two larger ones lay dead by 

 the nest, but I did not find the 

 smallest one. The old birds were very 

 angry, probably thinking I was some- 

 how the cause of their misfortune. 

 Both parents made vain attempts to 

 drive me away, the male using strate- 

 gy, by often flying from around bushes 

 and small trees, which concealed his 

 coming, and often came within less 

 than a couple of feet of your head. The 

 old Hawks seemed rather fatigued, 

 and of course had been having a 

 strenuous time of it. The mother 

 alighted on a dead swamp ash tree 

 several times and is about one-third 

 larger than her mate; her feet are 

 very yellow and her eyes dark. The 

 father was obliged to rest on the 



same tree and was not quite as wary 

 as his mate; his feet are darker but 

 his eye a striking bright yellow with 

 a dark pupil. When I finally left, the 

 male followed me quite a distance 

 scolding. 



The 14th of July, again visited the 

 nest but as a thunder shower was 

 coming, remained but a few moments. 

 The mother flew from the nest on my 

 approach. The dead birds had been 

 removed. The two remaining Hawks 

 were rapidly becoming feathered out, 

 and were probably female birds. 

 Shaking a cloth in their faces, they 

 tumbled over backwards in their ang- 

 er, showing the small brown feathers 

 coming, beneath. The father, not far 

 away, came at the alarm call of his 

 mate, and began to scold, but I could 

 not stay. 



On account of a shower suddenly 

 coming up, 17th July, the nest, was 

 not reached, but the 20th, when I did 

 visit the nest, the young were gone, 

 evidently becoming full-fledged enough 

 to fly away into the bushes. The 

 mother was about, but no longer had 

 occasion to go and call her mate. 



Stewart H. Burnham. 



Books Received. 



CASSINIA, Vol. XIX, March, 1915. 



Few publications come to the desk 

 of the Editor of THE OOLOGIST that 

 give us more real pleasure than Cas- 

 sinia, a record of the proceedings of 

 the Delaware Valley Ornithological 

 Club. This issue, for some reason, 

 appears to be about a year late, but 

 none the less is full of interest, con- 

 taining as it does, the following, viz.: 



Titian Ramsey Peale, by Whitmer 

 Stone, being a splendid review of the 

 services of this great naturalist. 



Nesting Birds of Pocono Lake, by 

 J. Fletcher Street, illustrated with two 

 splendid half tones illustrative of the 

 nest and eggs of the Alder Flycatcher. 



