THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



25 



nest till the young harriers should 

 break the shell, wheu he intended to 

 •wring the nestlings' necks and sell 

 them to the selectmen. To save them 

 from a worse fate, I took these eggs. 

 It was a large set of seven, with un- 

 usually fine markings, and it is now 

 safe in Washington. The bounty- 

 hunter at first said he would shoot me, 

 but finally threatened to sue me for 

 trespass, stealing and birds' -egging. 

 He solaced himself later by going 

 down into Gungawamp and trying to 

 kill harmless ospreys, for this same 

 small, ill-advised town bounty. With 

 wider knowledge of the food and hab- 

 its of the birds, at their doors, our 

 farmers, instead of giving bounties for 

 the destruction of fancied feathered 

 enemies, will offer premiums for the 

 protection of every kind of rapacious 

 bird. 



But now the bird lover is confronted 

 by another serious question. If the 

 standing timber continues to be cut off 

 at its present rate, where will the birds 

 of prey breed? By deforestation the 

 great horned owl is already driven to 

 our remotest limits. A few years ago 

 I knew the homes of ten pairs of barred 

 owls; but now I cannot locate but 

 three pairs. The sparrow hawk could 

 better adapt itself to new environment, 

 for it will now on occasion breed in 

 marten boxes, dove cotes, and tele- 

 graph poles. Though scarce locally, 

 Mr. Thomas Trumbull finds this little 

 falcon common and breeding abund- 

 antly within three miles of Hartford. 

 Up there every shagbark grove shelters 

 one or more pairs. In April and May, 

 Mr. Trumbull saw holes containing 

 sets of five, four and three fresli eggs, 

 and May 16, one hole with four young 

 falcons. 



The red shouldered hawks might find 

 temporary homes in swamps with the 

 accipiters. But the red-tails will go if 

 the large trees disappear. Mr. Trum- 

 bull found a red-tailed hawk breeding 

 this season in an unusual position. It 

 had an immense nest in an isolated 



pine, on the edge of a cliff, on the 

 side of Talcott Mountain, several rods 

 from the main woods. Here, in the 

 middle of April, the female was cover- 

 ing three incubated eggs. No one 

 could approach this site without being 

 seen. And from their sightly eyrie, 

 these wary birds could see for miles 

 up and down the picturesque Farming- 

 ton valley. 



Marsh hawks are reported very 

 scarce around Hartford, but in this 

 county every suitable box sux>ports a 

 pair. I can name seven well known 

 trout streams, frequented by scores of 

 Norwich fishermen, where marsh- 

 hawks breed every season. Approach- 

 ing a local marsh lately, two of these 

 big harriers swooped down with fierce 

 cries within eight feet of my fox ter- 

 rier. Then one hawk soared high in 

 the air, still uttering its note of alarm, 

 away above the dizziest flights of the 

 buteos, until absolutely lost in the sky. 

 Repeatedly I have known a sitting 

 marsh- hawk to remain covering her 

 eggs from sight till I had passed her, 

 when she would softly spring into the 

 air and silently steal away. Not till 

 she supposed she had secured her home 

 from harm would she seek her own 

 safety. 



The Mourning and Connecticut Warblers 

 in New York. 



By Ernest H. Short, Rochester, N. Y. 



the mourning warbler, Geothlypis Philadelphia. 



I have noticed in the last number of 

 The Atlantic Slope Naturalist the 

 article on the Mourning Warbler, by 

 Mr. A. R. Justice, and, as I was for- 

 tunate in helping to secure one of the 

 few absolutely authentic sets of this 

 bird's eggs it may be that my experi- 

 ence will interest other collectors. 



On the 31st of May, 1897, I was out 

 in a swampy tract of w T oods about one 

 mile northwest of the village of 

 Gaines, in Orleans county, this state, 

 in company w T ith Mr. J. Ritenberg. 

 After having worked the ground over 

 separately for some time we met and 



