THE COLLECTOR'S MONTHLY. 



66 



Description of the Nest and tiggs of the 

 Birds of Barnstuhle Co., Mass. 



3.52. Bald Eagle. 



Hnli.-i fins hncocephahs. {461.) 

 This bird is not at all common herea- 

 bouts, I have observed a few. I only 

 know of one set of eggs being taken. Its 

 range is very great, extending from the 

 Arctic Circle to Texas. 



The nesting time is between the last of 

 December and the middle of April. It 

 gets its living mostly by fishing, but it 

 has been known to attack flocks of Ducks 

 and Geese and selecting a particular bird 

 swoop down upon it and often killing it, 

 carry it away to some lofty tree orcragg 

 overlooking the water. The nests are 

 very large and composed of sticks and 

 roots, and lined with fine roots. 



They generally place the nest in trees, 

 and about thirty feet from the ground. 

 The eggs are two in number, dirty white, 

 with uo markings. Average measure- 

 Bents 2, .87 x 2, .13. 



357. Pigeon Hawk. 



Falco columbarius. (41 7.) 

 There is no reason to believe that this 

 dawk breeds in New England. Hut as 

 bhey are quite common I thought.it well 

 ;o mention it. They are seldom seen in 

 ;his locality during the breeding season, 

 vhich is from the first of May to the 

 niddle of June. The eggs are four in 

 lumber and range from nearly cream 

 :olor to light brown, with spots of amber 

 iverage measurement 1, .52 x 1, .23. 



360. Sparrow Hawk. 



Faleo sparvenin. (426 a») 

 This bird is the most abundent of our 

 lawks. Its manner of securing its prey is 

 nteresting. It hovers nearly motionless 

 n the air, watching for a mouse or small 

 nole to show itself, and as soon it catches 

 light of one, it suddenly swoopes down 



upon it. This Hawk builds no nest, ow- 

 ing deserted Wood-peckers holes, and 

 natural cavities to deposit the eggs in. 

 The four eggs are laid ;i dark 

 color with chestnut spots and blotches. 

 Measures 1, 35 x 1, lo. 



C. C. Purdum. 

 (To i>e Continued.) 



Singular Nesting Sin-*. 



(For the Collectors Mont lily.) 



Some birds seem to have ;i strange 

 fascination for queer places, as we are 

 often made aware by finding them nest- 

 ing in peculiar situations, whirl, they 

 may have sought from some reason, or, 

 I think in most cases it is simply a pre- 

 ference of a building site. These incidents 

 which I shall relate have all happened in 

 my vicinity within a few years. Promi- 

 nently amongst the birds noted for nest- 

 ing in out of way placesstands the House 

 Wren, a bird delighted with all manner 

 of nooks, and crannies, in fact, what does 

 it matter so long as the favored corner 

 will hold a pile of sticks, and a lot of 

 other rubbish. 



Once a friend and myself, were visitors 

 to a cherry tree where a scare-crow, was 

 fastened to some of the upper limbs in 

 order to keep the birds away from the 

 cherries. For sometimes we noticed a 

 pair of Wrens, flying about the scare- 

 crow with anxious exclamations so that 

 at first we could not think what could be 

 the matter, but all at once it dawned on 

 our minds that the birds had a nest some- 

 where about the etfigy and upon closer 

 inspection, the nest was found in one of 

 the coat pockets of the figure, which 

 sheltered a set of little pink flushed eggs. 

 Last spring another scare-crow was fixed 

 up to scare Hawks that were becoming 

 too fond of the poultry, but hardly be- 

 fore it had been erected, a couple of Wrens 



