SWAINSON'S HAWK. 239 



found by me, more than thirty in number, was difficult to get at and much 

 higher from the ground than usual. It was fully 50 feet up, and contained 

 but a single fresh egg on May 28, 1882. The nests varied considerably in 

 size and bulk, but rarely averaged more than a foot and a half wide by a 

 foot in depth. The top of the nest was usually rather flat, and in most 

 instances fairly well lined with either dry grass, weed stalks, dry cottonwood, 

 or juniper bark. A few were lined with green willow tops, and now and 

 then I found one with scarcely any lining. They are not neatly constructed 

 and have a ragged looking appearance from the outside; frequently a streamer 

 or two of juniper bark hangs down from the sides of the nest, giving it a 

 very dilapidated appearance, and many times, had I not been able to see 

 the bird on the nest, I should certainly have taken it for an abandoned one. 



Capt. B. F. Goss says: "I found this species breeding in North Dakota 

 in the high timber along the streams, from 40 to 60 feet up, and in low 

 brush patches on the prairies in the lake region, where the nests were but 

 2 to 4 feet from the ground; I also found nests on the ground in the open 

 prairie. I think from appearances there has been brush growing where I 

 found these nests, and the birds became attached to the locality, and con- 

 tinued to use it after the bushes had been burned off by the prairie fires 

 so common in those regions. I also found it breeding in the heavy timber 

 along the Nueces River in southern Texas." 



Mr. F. Stephens says: "Swainson's Hawk arrives in southern California 

 in the early spring, in flocks, many remaining in the larger unsettled valleys 

 to breed. I have seen hundreds in sight at once, scattered over the plain, 

 on the ground, where they sit most of the day, after gorging themselves on 

 beetles and especially grasshoppers. At night they roost in the nearest trees 

 or on rocky hillsides. On one occasion I took a set of eggs of this species, 

 and a set of Icturus cucullatus nelsoni from a nest pendant from some of the 

 twigs composing the Hawk's nest; another time I found nests of Tyr annus 

 verticalis and Carpodacus mexicanus % frontalis built in the mass of the Hawk's 

 nest, all occupied at the same time." 



Mr. Lynds Jones states that in Iowa this Hawk usually constructs its 

 nest in moderately timbered tracts, usually in oak or elm trees, from 30 to 

 80 feet up, the nesting season beginning in the first half of May, their nests 

 being often lined with leaves. Their call note, aside from a peculiar gur- 

 gling sound made while diving through the air, resembles the word "pi-tick, 

 pi-tick," frequently repeated. 



In Montana, according to Mr. R. S. Williams, fresh eggs may be looked 

 for in the last week in May. The nests here are usually placed in low 

 cottonwoods from 12 to 15 feet from the ground and near the center of the 

 tree. 



Mr. J. W. Preston found a pair of these birds nesting in a Blue Heron's 

 deserted nest, near Baxter, Iowa. He says: 'Although a bird of graceful 

 form and often of pleasing movement, it is the most careless in habits of 



