iS 



THE BAY STATE OOLOGIST. 



Ascending the tree to the nest, I tound it containing three eggs, of a greenish- 

 white color, with a few indistinct brown markings. The nest was quite a bulky 

 affair, composed of sticks and large weed stalks. One dead elm stick I noticed as 

 being over four feet in length and an inch in diameter at its thickest part. The 

 lining was of grape-vine bark and oak leaves. 



Both birds now appeared upon the scene, alighting near by on another tree. I 

 drew out my glass and took a close look at them, and soon recognized them by 

 the wide transverse band across neck and breast (ashy-brown in one and light 

 rufous in the other,) as being a pair of the handsome Swainson's Buzzard (Buteo 

 Swainsoni,) and I felt correspondingly elated over the possession of the three 

 eggs, whigh I put into a yarn mitten and attaching the ball of string to it, lowered 

 with great care to the ground, which in a very few minutes I also reached. 



I now started in to look this piece of woods over carefully for further finds, and 

 had not gone over two hundred yards before in a nest about forty feet up in an 

 elm, I saw the ear tufts of a Great Horned Owl, followed soon by the big yellow 

 eyes and head, staring down at me as if enquiring what business had I intruding 

 there. 



At the first click of the climbers against the tree the bird left the nest and flew 

 to a distant part of the woods; but returned with her mate as I neared the nest, 

 and they gave me a fine serenading with their hoo ! hoo! hoos ! with many gro- 

 tesuqe bowings and swayings of their bodies from side to side. 



I found two snow-white eggs in the nest, rather below the average size of eggs 

 of the Bubo V. I lowered them as before and soon folloAved them to the ground. 

 The owls again flying to a distant part of the timber as soon as I left the nest and 

 commenced to descend. 



I found nothing further of interest in these woods, so returned to my horse and 

 to the highway. Carefully secreting my eggs, I now rode two miles further to 

 another large body of timber, and at once set about searching for nests. Soon 

 finding one in the top of a large black-oak; but no hawk being present I did not 

 climb it, as it is my rule never to climb to a nest unless I know it to be occupied. 



Going a few hundred yards further, [ discovered another nest in a large white- 

 oak, and I could plainly see that it was occupied. Shying a club up into the tree, 

 a Red-tail left the nest. Quickly making the ascent I found the nest occupied by 

 three very handsomely marked eggs of this species. The nest apparently being 

 an old one repaired, and lined with bits of moss and grape-vine bark. These egga 

 presented a very different appearance from those that I had diagnosed as Swain- 

 son's. 



