As 







AMERICAN OSPREY. 



~> 



VOL. 1. 



ASHLAND, KY., MARCH, 1890. 



NO. 3 



COLLECTING EXPERIENCE, 

 (or better, collecting eggs.) 



Febuary 22, 1888 was a very warm, nice 

 day for winter. About ten o'clock 1 

 started for the woods, to see what was 

 there. I had gone about half a mile and 

 was walking along an old wood road 

 which was covered with rough ice, when 

 I saw some crows perched on a tree a 

 short distance ahead. I tried to steal up 

 within gunshot or them, and was walk- 

 ing as noiselessly as possible with my 

 gun in the hollow of my arm, doing 1113' 

 best not to be seen by them, when I slip- 

 ped and fell on the ice, cracking the stock 

 of my gun. The crows flew away, but 

 not without cause. I went home and got 

 my other gun, amuzzle loader, and load- 

 ing it with coarse shot, started off in the 

 opposite direction to see if I could have 

 better luck there. Although I was gone 

 two hours or more, the only birds I saw 

 were four hawks, probably Red-Shoul- 

 dred (Buteo Linneatus). Such is the 

 scarcity of birds here in winter. These 

 hawks were circling around in the sky, 

 seemingly looking for a place to build a 

 nest. One of them came directly over 

 the spot where I was standing, and al- 

 though he was fully 200 .yards above me, 

 I tired at him. He turned over in the 

 air two or three times and fell a few 

 yards, then caught himself and Hew 

 away quite rapidly. I do not think the 

 shot could possibly have reached him — 

 if it did its force must have been spent. 



The other pair of hawks stayed over a 

 large swamp all the time. 1 watched 

 them for more than an hour, and said to 

 myself, "I'll call 'round in about six 

 weeks." I did not get a chance to look 

 them up until April 28. On that day in 



company with a friend, I spent several 

 hours in climbing trees and hunting for 

 nests — no, hunting for one nest — in that 

 swamp. I had just struck my climbers 

 into a large pine tree which had a neat 

 looking nest in it about two-thirds the 

 way up, when off flew a large Red-Shoul- 

 dered Hawk. I jumped for my gun, but 

 too late, so I went back to the tree and 

 up it recklessly fast. I fully expected to 

 rind young birds in the nest, but was 

 happily surprised to rind instead two 

 eggs, which had probably been used for 

 a chair about two weeks. They were 

 very handsome to my eyes, and it was 

 with fear and trembling and an egg in 

 each vest pocket that I commenced 

 climbing down out of the tree. I could 

 not hug the tree, but I got down just the 

 same, and laid in wait until dusk for 

 Mrs. Ked-Shoulderd Hawk. But she 

 knew enough not to return, so I went 

 home, somewhat tired and with my neck 

 quite stiff from gazing skyward so much, 

 but happy as a clam at high tide. My 

 sleep was not interrupted that night, 

 however, by "dreams of the events of the 

 day." 



The eggs I found to measure about 

 2.12x1.65. They were of a pale blue 

 ground color, very faintly spotted and 

 blotched with reddish brown, very 

 unlike a set which I took the year before 

 from a tree not more than a half-mile 

 away. This set, which I took April 9, 

 1887, was the handsomest set of Red- 

 Shouldered Hawk's eggs I ever saw. 

 They were larger than the others, 

 measuriDgabout2.20xl.70, and were spot- 

 ted and blotched sharply with reddish 

 brown or umber. The nest was situated 

 on the south side of a largo pine tree, 

 about forty feet from the ground, or one- 

 i Continued on 3d page.) 



