170 LIFE HISTORIES OP NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



were feathered. It was situated 90 feet above the ground in, or rather on, 

 the top of a very slender pine tree growing on the edge of a cypress swamp. 

 The trunk of this tree at a height of 5 feet above ground was not more than 15 

 inches in diameter, and at the place where my climber stood, as he took the 

 eggs, it was less than 3 inches, while the limbs he stood on were only about an 

 inch thick. The nest was composed of large twigs thickly covered with Span- 

 ish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) and long moss (Usnea barbatd), lined with the 

 same materials, with the addition of a few feathers from the birds. It meas- 

 ured 20 inches in length, 15 inches in width, and 12 inches in depth on the 

 outside, and 6 inches in diameter by 4 inches deep on the inside. 



"The nests of this species are usually so very irregular, that I should 

 think they simply hollowed out bunches of mossy twigs that they found 

 lodged in the tops of trees, had I not often seen them carrying this material 

 to nests that they were building. 



"Both birds were present when the eggs were taken and made much ado 

 They would dive at the head of my climber, uttering their shrill but rather 

 feeble cry, and at times were so fierce that he had to stop and strike at them 

 with his hat to prevent them from striking him. This set of eggs is the earliest 

 I have record of, and if it takes these birds four weeks to hatch their eggs, as 

 it usually does the larger Hawks in the north, they must have been laid before 

 April 1. They usually commence laying about the middle of April, and I have 

 found them sitting on their nests from that time until the 1st of June, the latter 

 being the latest date I have ever remained in Florida. Most of them have their 

 eggs laid by the middle of May. One nest which I saw these birds building 

 was deserted for three or four weeks and then reoccupied, but whether or not 

 by the original pair, I do not know. 



"The second nest was taken 7 miles northeast of San Mateo, Florida, 

 April 14, 1888, and contained two fresh eggs. It was also situated in the 

 extreme top of a slender pine, in every respect an exact counterpart of the 

 one that held the first nest. The difference in the height of the two was less 

 than a foot. As nearly as I could judge, about three-fourths of the nests of 

 this species found by me were about the same distance above the ground, i. e., 

 they were 90 feet, and the remainder from a little above that height to 125 or 

 130 feet. The birds to which the second set belonged were not so pugnacious 

 as the owners of the first, but they made a great fuss, and soon had four others 

 of the same species with them to see what was going on, and these seemed as 

 much concerned at the disturbance of the nest as the owners themselves. 

 They were less fierce than the first on account of their eggs being fresher, for, 

 like all birds, they exhibit more anxiety just before and just after the eggs are 

 hatched than at any other time. The nest of this pair was composed of large 

 twigs, Spanish moss, and pine needles, lined with green moss and small twigs. 

 The earliest date on which I found this species breeding was April 5, 1891, 

 when I took a set of two eggs, 8 miles southeast of San Mateo, Florida. 

 Both eggs were rather smaller than the usual size and also lighter colored. 



