BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
123 
served the hawk rising*, as if without effort, a few yards in the air, and ag*ain 
falling* toward the g*round with the rapidity of lig*htning. I proceeded 
to the spot and found the hawk g*rappled to the body of the cock, both 
tumbling* over and over, and paying* no attention to me as I approached. 
Desirous of seeing* the result, I remained still until, perceiving* that the 
hawk had g*iven a fatal squeeze to the brave cock, I ran to secure the 
former ; but the marauder had kept a hawk’s eye upon me, and, disen- 
g*aging* himself, rose in the air in full confidence. The next moment I 
pulled the trigger and he fell dead to the ground.” — Audubon. 
Like the Sparrow Hawk this bird has been tamed to come at call. 
Mdification commonly is begun about the 20th of April, and lasts for 
a period of from three to five days. Occasionally this bird will deposit 
its eggs in a deserted crow’s nest. I believe they prefer to erect their 
own nests, and, from my observation, am quite positive they only ap- 
propriate the nests of other birds when their own have been destroyed. 
The building of the nest is the conjoint labor of both birds. It is usually 
built in a thick woods. When in such a locality is mostly low down, 
yet, when, as is occasionally the case, an isolated tree is selected as the 
nesting site, it is frequently so placed as to render it inaccessible to all 
advances of the oologist. Externally the nest is built of sticks, varying 
much in size. It is generally lined with the inner layer of bark, al- 
though, frequently, blades of grass, feathers, and leaves enter into the 
construction of the interior. While certain writers have described the 
nest as broad, with but a slight concavity, I would remark that such 
statement is not in accord with my observations, as I have invariably 
found the concavities to be well marked. 
The eggs measure about 1.92 by 1.50 and usually number from three 
to four, although it is not a rare occurrence to find five. Their color is 
a dull, bluish-white. Exceptional sets are sometimes taken with numer- 
ous and unevenly distributed brown or reddish spots. A gentleman of 
my acquaintance once took four eggs from a nest which were void of 
spots. The female, although driven off when the first complement was 
taken, made in the same nest a second deposit of four eggs, and, strange to 
say, the last were all spotted. The period of incubation is given by 
Gentry to be eighteen days. Although in this particular, my observa. 
tion has been somewhat limited, I am fully persuaded that the time re- 
quired for this, likewise other of our Bapacia, is, certainly, three weeks, 
or over. The young leave the nest in about twenty -five days ; when 
about eight or nine weeks old they are able to provide food for them- 
selves; to this time, however, they are carefully guarded by the old 
birds, and fed almost entirely on a diet of small birds, young chickens, 
and some few insects. 
Dr. Coues says in speaking of this hawk: “Possessed of spirit com- 
mensurate with its physical powers, it preys upon game little if any 
humbler than that of our more powerful falcons. It attacks and de- 
