CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 



225 



Breeding Notes. — In the vicinity of Ottawa this species gen- 

 erally builds about the end of May or first of June in a hemlock 

 tree about 20 feet from the ground. The nest is made of dry 

 sticks lined with some kind of soft bark and nearly resembles a 

 crow's nest. The eggs, four or five in number, are white with a 

 slight purplish tint marked with splashes of various shades of 

 brown. {G. R. White.) This species breeds, in small numbers only, 

 in the vicinity of London, Ont. The nest is usually in pine trees 

 and the eggs four to six. {W.E. Saunders.) A nest of this species 

 was taken at the corner of Dow's swamp near the canal close to 

 the city of Ottawa, July 6, 1900. It was in a balsam fir about 

 fifteen feet from the ground, built of sticks and lined with cedar 

 bark, {Thuya occidentalis). This species is quite common in 

 Assiniboia, and a number of nests were taken in June, 1895. On 

 June I2th a nest was taken in a willow thicket at the police station, 

 Wood Mountain. It was in the crotch of a willow less than ten 

 feet from the ground, built of sticks and lined inside with finer 

 material of the same character. There were four eggs partly 

 incubated, lightgreenish in colour and heavily spotted with brown. 

 Another nest in a spruce tree was taken, built of the same class 

 of material, on Farewell Creek, Cypress Hills, June 27th. In this 

 nest the eggs were half incubated. {Macoun.) I have clutches of 

 eggs of this little hawk taken near Toronto, also others taken in 

 Muskoka, Manitoba and Assiniboia. It builds its nest in tree 

 tops and lays from four to six handsomely marked eggs. {W. 

 Raine.) This bird has always been regarded as a rare summer 

 resident near London, Ont., but during the summer of 1900 six 

 nests were found by three observers and it may prove to be more 

 common than was supposed. Its silent unobtrusive manner may 

 have been its shield from observation. These nests, as well as 

 four others taken in previous years, were all in conifers, five of 

 the ten being in tamarac. All of them were built of twigs and 

 many had a few flakes of bark as a lining. One nest was on an old 

 foundation but all the others were entirely new. In height from 

 the ground they varied from 15 to 30 feet. The birds were in 

 some cases fairly silent and peaceful, and in others very noisy 

 and aggressive, in one case particularly the male would attack a 

 man 100 yards distant, although the nest was not found. All the 

 sets of eggs taken, varying from three to six to the set, are very 

 handsome, particularly one set of six fresh eggs in which the colour 

 of the markings is a very bright reddish brown. {W. E. Saunders.) 



