THE MEXICAN GOSHAWK. 253 



Many of these twigs had the leaves attached to them and only partly 

 dried. The inner lining of the nest consisted of dry cottonwood leaves and 

 the tops of willows, the latter also taken while green. No bark nor material 

 other than that mentioned was used in the construction of this nest. 



A second one, found June 6, 1872, contained but two eggs, on which the 

 bird had been sitting for about a week. This was in a similar situation to the 

 first, and resembled it in structure, but was lined with a few strips of the soft, 

 dry inner bark of the cottonwood and with dry leaves of the same tree. A 

 third egg was taken from this nest June 18, but whether laid by the same bird 

 or not, I am unable to tell. 



On June 19 1 took another set of two eggs, which contained small embryos. 

 The nest, like the first one, was composed principally of small green twigs, 

 many with the leaves still on them, and lined with green willow tops. The 

 last nest was found on June 20, within a mile of my camp, and though 

 positive that a pair had a nest somewhere in this grove — a rather dense one — 

 I failed to locate it, although I had, as I supposed, carefully examined this 

 very tree several times previously. I also saw the birds about, but the nest 

 was so well hidden among the dense foliage of the top that only a small 

 portion was visible from below, and this only from a certain point of view. 

 It contained two eggs with good-sized embryos, and the lining consisted of 

 partly dried cottonwood leaves. 



The nests are rather frail structures, and were all apparently newly built. 

 They were shallow and but slightly hollowed, not more than 1£ inches deep. 

 The last two found were very difficult to get at, resting as they did on very 

 slender limbs, and from the fact that they were composed principally of green 

 twigs it was no easy matter to detect them. The birds made but little demon- 

 stration when the eggs wer,e taken, beyond circling above the tree tops and 

 uttering a few shrill screams. I believe that but one brood is reared in a sea- 

 son. The male assists in getting the nesting material and perhaps in incuba- 

 tion as well. By the latter part of October most of them had departed for 

 their winter homes. 



Mr. F. Stephens has also found their nests in Arizona and southern New 

 Mexico, and considers them as common about Tucson, especially in some of 

 the large mesquite groves on the Santa Cruz River. He found them nesting 

 between May 2 and June 2, usually finding two eggs to a set. The nests were 

 placed in cottonwoods and large mesquite trees. 



I consider this one of the handsomest Hawks we have; graceful and quick 

 in all its movements, a swift flyer, and resembling the Groshawk in many 

 respects, but it prefers more open country than the latter. It seems to be 

 found only in the vicinity of water courses, and not, like many of the other 

 Raptores, on the dry and comparatively barren desert-like plains. It nests 

 later than most Hawks found in Arizona, usually during May, and even as 

 late as the middle of June. 



