Mar., 1901 I 
TH li CONDOR 
43 
A Hawking Expedition. 
O N APRIL 16, 1900, Prof. L. T. 
Merwin, Mr. Elmer Bickford 
and the writer journeyed to the 
hills east of Napa City to photograph 
and collect a set of Western Redtail 
{Biiteo b. caluriis) which Mr. Merwin 
had located two days before. 
The nest was situated in the face of 
a cliff about 60 feet from the base and 
twenty feet from the top, and was corn- 
long .stick. The accompanying illustra- 
tion will explain how it was done. 
Mr. Merwin, partly suspended upon 
the rope seen in the picture, handled 
the net and tightly hugged the cliff as 
he passed it around behind him within 
reach of the writer whose rear elevation 
is decidedly conspicuous. It is to be 
regretted that Mr. Merwin does not ap- 
pear in the picture for he has a cheerful 
countenance. 
Mr. Bickford, ever alert for the 
Photo hv Elmer Bickford. 
Collecting Hawks’ Eggs Under Difficulties. 
posed almost entirely of oak sticks and 
twigs, with a few pieces of tree moss or- 
namenting the outside. The eggs, 
three in number, were nearly ready to 
hatch, but were successfully prepared 
for the cabinet nevertheless. 
The task of removing the eggs from 
the nest was alloted to Mr. Merwin by 
common consent because he is at once 
agile, “reachy” and willing. The nest 
was inaccessible to the unaided hand 
so we used a small net at the end of a 
novel and picturesque, immortalized 
the scene by tlie aid of his faithful cam- 
era and it is by his kindness that we 
are able to present the photograph. 
The shrubber}^ in the foreground is 
growing from crevices in the rock and 
gives the picture a certain tame effect, 
when in fact the shrubs are 60 feet from 
the ba.se of the cliff. 
The hills in the background are a 
part of the low range extending in an 
easterly direction from the Napa water- 
