The Red-Shouldered Hawk 
35 
Nesting 
Habits 
small rodents that can be found in a cornfield at the time of husking; and 
although each mouse destroys but a small amount of grain, yet the aggre- 
gate amount that is lost on every acre must amount to a great deal in 
the course of a year on a farm. These small mammals are numerous in 
species and are very prolific, and if their numbers were not kept in check 
by birds of prey, they would soon become a serious 
menace to agriculture. If the farmers of the country ^^ermin**™ 1 
could have a Pied Piper of Hamelin to rid them of 
their rodent pests they might not need the aid of hawks, but Brown- 
ing’s wierd creation cannot be summoned in this matter-of-fact age. 
Beecher S. Bowdish, of Demarest, New Jersey, submits the following 
regarding the nesting-habits of a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks : 
“On March 23, 1910, I found the female on the nest, which had been 
occupied for at least five or six years. On April 30, it contained three 
young birds, newly hatched, and one egg. It was situated about sixty- 
five feet from the ground in a main fork of a white- 
oak. We placed a blind intended to conceal a camera 
in a beech-tree about fifteen feet from the nest and 
left it. On May 4 the nest held four young, only one of which was able 
to sit up for any length of time. On the 14th a blind was placed on 
the ground, beneath the tree, from which the camera above could be 
tripped. On the 15th a good photograph of the hawk and her young 
was obtained, and it was noted that she had placed a branch of green leaves 
in the nest. Several others had also been brought within the past few 
days. This is a habit common to several of the hawks ; and as it ap- 
pears to be done on clear, hot days, it seems reasonable to believe 
that the object is to secure moisture to the nest’s contents. On this 
occasion the hawk visited the nest and quickly left 
without giving her young food. Directly after, it 
was found that the smallest, a weakling, had been 
killed and partly devoured by his brethren, whose appetites are rapacious. 
By the 29th, the young were more than half grown, and by June 4 
the two larger young were so well developed that they easily flapped 
from the nest to near-by trees. Camera and operator were in the blind from 
10:30 a. m. until 2 :30 p. m. and while the other youngsters were repeatedly 
fed, the unfortunate bird in the nest was neglected. He took his fate very 
philosophically, and while showing the keenest interest in the clamor 
of his brethren at feeding-time, never made a cry during the whole 
period. 
“In 1911 the hawks started housekeeping in the same nest. On April 
1, the bird was on the nest. On the 8th, she deserted this nest, leaving 
three eggs. 
“The pair shortly took up their domicile in a crow’s nest of the year 
before, which they repaired for the purpose. This was about thirty feet 
up in a dead chestnut-tree, and a thick beech-tree close at hand offered 
exceptional concealment for a blind. On May 21, the bird was found 
Photographing 
a Buteo Family 
