THE CANADIAN SPO RTSM W USD NATURAL 





lomua voci/erua (Bp.), I can say thai I have 

 found several nests in the Province of Quebec, 

 in latitude 46 ° . The bird is quite common 

 in the County of Ottawa, P.Q. Mr. W. P. 

 Anderson t<'lls me that be found both the 

 Whip-poor- Will ' and the Night Hawk very 

 common in the North-Wesl Territory, 

 distance north of latitude 49°. Can you tell 

 me whether there is, so far, any record of the 

 Western Grebe (Podicepa OccidentaLx, later) 

 being taken in Ontario or Quebec 7 Prof. 

 Macoun, I think, found it north ol Winnipeg. 

 Mr. George White, of this city, shot a pair 

 near here last season, but the skins have 

 unfortunately been lost. 



W. L. Scott. 

 Ottawa, Out. April 26, 1882. 

 Note.— The Western Grebe occurs rarely in 

 the Province of Quebec. I purchased one 

 in the Quebec market. — C. 



THE BIRDS OF PREY OF NOVA SCOTIA. 



BY J. HERNARD GILPIN, AH., M.D., M.R.C.S. 



He is common, and most probably breeds 

 with u.s, as be is seen during that season, but I 

 have no noteof his nesting. He leaves us during 

 November, the swamps then being frozen, and 

 the mice, reptiles and snakes, his usual food, 

 hibernating. He is seen beating our new 

 mown tields and. swamps, but never hunting 

 the shores abounding with shore birds. The 

 females and young are much more abundant 

 than the slate grey male. In his habits he 

 resembles the buzzard, as he does somewhat 

 in bill and claws. In the next family of hawks 

 we have the sharp-shin (A. fuscus), Cooper's 

 hawk (J. Cooperi), and the Goss-hawk (A. 

 alricapi litis). The sharp-shin is, perhaps, 

 our most common hawk. I have noted him 

 in May and in December. Little doubt he 

 breeds with us. though 1 do not know his nest. 

 Though slenderer than the falcons, his bill 

 lighter, and upper mandible scarcely notched, 

 he is by no means their inferior in audacity 

 and headlong pounce. One broke the glass 

 of Mr. Downs' aviary in attacking a canary, 

 seen through. He will often attack caged birds 

 hanging in country houses, and even enter the 

 city lor the same game. Cooper's hawk (.1. 

 Cooperi), an enlarged nvbdel of the last, is 

 very rare. I am indebted to Mr. Egan for 

 notes of one specimen mounted by himself 

 and afterwards sent home to England. I have 

 never 6een it myself. The Goshawk (.1. alri- 

 capillus) is common and seen during the 



breeding seasot 



time. A pair 



at Digby G 



\ icinity to the -'a would mal 



they lived upon Hub. I 



specit 



ber, even the fish ban K- 



suppose a duck upon tin 



<a-\ pre} for iheiu, and our w - 



covered by them ; but I ha 



have read of any hawk mak ■ j tiki 

 hawk what may be called a 



The Goshawk i- the t\ pe ••: Ihi . 



hawk oi tln> farmers' n ives, lb 



in the open, ie not seen beating mar* 



tin' buzzards and harrier-, or the 



like the -mailer falcons, bill prowls a 



homesteads, coming suddenly with tic -wiu- 



ness of the gale from nowhere, an. I 



a hen or chicken from tie 



er, gone as suddenly a- it came, and 



in the deadly rush for a time tl 



wariness which ever keeps him Irom 



iuity of man. The next Famil* 



Falcons ; a nor ncwei ml organisal 



aratively ; a keener ardor and untamed spirit ; 



the habit of taking their prey with 



Irom a tall tree, or perpendicularly 



air, rather than hunting along tic bui 



a stronger, shorter, and peculiarly notched bill, 



and pointed wing, define this family as it 



abruptly from the others. It i< the t\ | • 



the highest excellence of the whole order 



six species inhabiting North :".>ur 



are found in Nova Scotia ; two probably 



ing, the others rare, and as respects i lit* 



jerfalcon accidental visitors. In F. s 



miss the old name -o long given by natui ■ 



to tin' falcon oi antiquity, but bo« to tie 



that gives to the tir>( scientific 



(Forster) the right i<\' the specific name 

 this historical bird, the companion and p I 

 mediaeval primes, the subject ol th< 

 pseudo science ol haw king, with all it- 

 phraseology, 1 am indebted to Mr. Dov - 

 my sole note. One specimen was mounted 

 by him some twenty years since, being taken 

 by a vessel on the coasl and brought I 



and a second specimen is exhibited tl 



ing by him. They arc not uncommon at 



Newfoundland, being called white hawks, and 



sometimes stray south ofus. into New England 



doubtless taking the inland route. The duck 



hawk (/'. com »nt n i.-), and here a 



the tine old name ," -. 8 bold and 



beautiful bird, with the lied bill. 



