nests are usually built from fiv^ to ten 

 feet above the ground and the nurnber of 

 eggs in the sets varies from three to five. 

 The Audubon's Caracaras (Polyborus 

 cheriway) have a limited range within 

 the United States, including Florida, 

 Texas, and Lower California. Their 

 range also extends southward through 

 Mexico and Central America to Ecuador 

 and Guiana. They breed throughout 

 their range within the United States and 

 southward. They are related to the 

 hawks and associate with vultures and 

 feed, to some extent, on carrion. Their 

 bulky nests are built in trees, such as 

 the cabbage palmetto ; in bushes ; and 

 sometimes, though rarely, in cliffs. The 

 nests are merely bulky platforms built 

 with branches, with a slight depression 

 for the eggs, which may or may not be 

 lined with fine twigs, roots and grasses. 

 Two or three eggs form the sets. 



The Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica 

 hudsonica) has a breeding range in the 

 western part of North America from the 

 Plains westward to the Cascade Moun- 

 tains, from Alaska southward to New 

 Mexico and Arizona. The large and ' 

 bulky nests of this bird are "a. rustic 

 lattice-work of sticks, measuring from 

 two to three feet high, though not more 

 than twelve to eighteen inches in the 

 greatest diameter." The nests have an 

 opening on one side and an arched roof. 

 The openings and roofs are not always 

 carefully made, and the sticks are ce- 

 mented together by the use of mud. The 

 lining consists generally of a few fine 

 roots and grasses. The number of eggs 

 in the sets is commonly seven, but they 

 vary from five to nine. 



The Kingfisher (Ceryle ale yon) has an 

 extensive breeding range which nearly 

 covers the United States. The eggs are* 

 laid in a hole excavated in a bank, 

 usually of sand, gravel, or earth, on the 

 borders of a stream or in a gravel pit. 

 The excavation, dug by the bird, is 

 usually about four feet in depth, but 

 varies from three to nine feet, and the 

 nest is at the end. The number of eggs 

 in a set varies from five to nine, and 



they are laid in the bones and other food 

 refuse cast away by the birds. 



The Screech Owl's (Megascops asio) 

 breeding range extends over eastern 

 North America, from Georgia north- 

 ward to New Brunswick and Minnesota. 

 Its eggs are usually laid in hollow trees 

 or stumps. In reality, no nest is built, 

 for the eggs simply rest on a few leaves, 

 rotten wood, chips, and at times a few 

 feathers. The number of eggs in the 

 sets varies from four to nine, though 

 the usual number is not more than six. 

 The Turkey Vulture's (Cathartes 

 aura) nesting range extends from New 

 Jersey and the Ohio Valley, the Sas- 

 katchewan region and British Columbia, 

 southward. The eggs may be laid on the 

 ground beneath bushes, among rocks, or 

 in hollow logs and stumps. The number 

 of eggs in the sets vary from one to 

 three. 



The Gambel's Partridge (Callipepla 

 gambelii) is also called the Arizona 

 Quail, and its range includes "Western 

 Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, southern 

 Utah, southern Nevada, southern Cali- 

 fornia in the Colorado Valley, and south- 

 ward into northwestern Mexico." Its 

 nest is on the ground at the base of a 

 tree or under a bush. At times, it is at 

 the side of a log or stump. It is usually 

 simply a mass of dead leaves and a few 

 feathers. The sets of eggs vary from 

 eight to sixteen in number. 



The Bob- white, or Quail (Colinus vir- 

 ginianus) nests throughout its range, 

 which covers the eastern United States 

 from southern Ontario southward to the 

 Gulf of Mexico. The nests of this well 

 known species are simply constructed in 

 a loose manner with grasses, leaves, 

 straw, and weeds. The nests are on the 

 ground in the corners of fences, at the 

 foot of stumps, which are surrounded by 

 a growth of vegetation, along roadsides 

 and in grain fields. In fact, they may be 

 found in almost any quiet locality where 

 there is growing vegetation to hide them. 

 The sets of eggs vary from ten to twenty 

 in number. 



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