September, 1902. 
THE CONDOR 
hawk would allow such great familiar- 
ity and the smaller birds know it for 
they do not attempt it with them. 
The Swainson hawks arrive here 
from the south about the loth to 20th of 
March, sometimes in large flocks or in 
bands of a dozen or two. The earliest 
and largest flocks all go north, the 
summer residents not coming until a 
couple or three weeks later, and going at 
once to their cjuarters which they refit 
preparatory to permanent occupancy 
later on. The species, as it appears in 
this locality, and so far as I know 
throughout the state, is of the very 
dark phase of plumage. I have watched 
the migrations and the breeding birds 
here very carefully for several years in 
the hope of finding a light colored spec- 
imen but nothing but the dark phase 
has ever come under my observation. 
Specimens of both sexes in my collec- 
tion show no conspicuous white areas 
on under parts — indeed no white at all, 
the body being of a uniform dark 
brown throughout. 
The darkest specimen (a female) 
shows only a lighter tawny coloring on 
tibicC, flanks and crissum. The lightest 
(a younger male) shows much more 
tawny on tibiae, flanks and crissum and 
extending up over the belly, and the 
lining of wings is lighter than in any 
specimen I have seen, showing whitish 
darker and tawny barring, the rest be- 
ing the same dark brown as in other 
specimens. In view of the present ten- 
dency for subdivision it seems strange 
that this dark phase of siminso?it should 
have escaped. If one compares the 
bird with the book description — Coues 
for instance — he will be at a loss to 
know where to place it for Coues 
speaks of the “immaculate throat’’ and 
“white under parts, etc.” which are 
wholly lacking in the bird we have 
here. Dr. A. K. Fisher has written me 
that the dark phase is not wholly re- 
stricted as to locality and that there is 
a seeming tendency among dark birds 
to develop light colored young and vice 
versa. I have never observed such an 
117 
occurrence here. I am not wholly a 
believer in the present hair-splitting 
tendency for subdivision but it seems to 
me that one dark phase of BtUeo swain- 
soni should be worthj^ of recognition. 
The nest of the Swainson hawk is 
the usual bulky, unsightly mass of 
sticks of the raptores, and is placed 
near the top or on a small outlying 
branch of a cottonwood or sycamore at 
an elevation of about 50 feet. (My 
records run from 35 to 75 feet.) Occa- 
sionally a live oak will be taken but as 
I know of only one such instance, it 
can hardly be considered regular in 
this section, at least. 
If disturbed from the nest the bird 
will glide gently away without a sound, 
sometimes to a nearby tree where it 
will sit vintil the intruder is gone but 
most ahvays to a distance of a quarter 
or half a mile where it will sail in wide 
circles in apparent indifference. Al- 
though the birds — even if their eggs are 
taken — will return to the same locality 
year after year and generally to their 
first nest I have never known them to 
attempt a second set in a nest just dis- 
turbed. 
They sometimes will occupy an old 
nest nearby, but in almost every in- 
stance in my experience have built a 
new nest quite near to the old one but 
a little higher up and a little further 
out towards the end of the branch, as 
though they had learned wisdom by 
experience. On May 5, 1901 a set of 
two eggs was taken from a sycamore 
about fifty feet from the ground, no- 
where near the top of the tree. The 
birds moved to another sycamore 200 
yards away and by May 12 a week later, 
had built anotner nest at the top of the 
tree and seventy-two feet from the 
ground. This also contained two eggs 
which were taken. The birds then 
moved on a few hundred yards to a 
much taller sycamore and built a nest 
in the top of that, and well out of reach 
and raised their young in peace. 
The new nest built for this second 
set was, naturally, a very poor affair. 
