Maryland. Collected by Thomas H. Jackson. 
Four eggs. Light yellowish-white. Two of 
the eggs have a few small spots of russet near 
the smaller ends; the other two are unmarked: 
1.93 x1.54; 1.94x1.53; 1.92x1.55; 1.94x1.54. 
Set XII. May 7, 1884. Clifton, Virginia. 
Collected by H. K. Jamison. Three eggs, in- 
cubation begun. Very light bluish-white. One 
egg unmarked. The other two spotted and 
i speckled with chestnut. Some of the spots 
measure .25 x .10, but most of them are smaller. 
One of the eggs is much more heavily marked 
than the other: 1.90x1.50; 1.91x1.50; 1.90 x 
L46. 
< Set XIII. May 9, 1885. Preston, Conn. Col 
; lected by “ J. M. W.” (C. L. Bawson). Four 
c egg s i fresh. Concerning this most peculiar set, 
Mr. Bawson writes: “Old nest, raised up high 
in oak. Male killed.” They are light bluish 
white. One is unmarked, the other three 
spotted with fawn color and russet. The spots 
average about .10 x 15. The peculiarity of this 
set consists in the great number of large gran- 
ulations and corrugations which are found oh 
three of the eggs. The bird’s oviduct must cer- 
tainly have been diseased, as the present writer 
has never seen another set of eggs with the 
like peculiarity: 1.97x1.52; 1.92x1.54; 1.90 x 
1.57; 1.96x1.50. 
Set XIV . May 20, 1886. Lafayette County, 
Miss. Collected by J. T. M. Two eggs, fresh. 
Light bluish-white. One of them is marked 
with a few faint specks of russet : 1.85x1.46; 
1.81x1.43. 
Set NY . May 17, 1883. Blue Mountains, 
Northampton County, Penn. Collected by 
Shriner. Two eggs. Grayish-white, one of 
them unmarked, the other spotted with russet, 
principally at the smaller end : 1.90 x 1.33 ; 1.89 
x 1.32. 
Set XVI. May 4, 1885. Kingston, New Mex- 
ico. Collected by F. \Y . Four eggs, fresh. 
Bluish-white. Two of the eggs are unmarked, 1 
but the other two are quite heavily spotted I 
with russet: 1.90x1.43; 1.94x1.45; 1.99x1.44; 
2.02x1.45. 
Set XVII. May 14, 1882. Ledyard, New 
London County, Conn. Collected by “ J. M. 
W.” (C. L. Bawson). Five eggs, fresh. 
Light bluish-white, two of them unmarked. 
The other three are very heavily marked for 
this species. The spots and blotches are of 
russet and chestnut, and some of them measure 
-.25x35. Oneegg is especially brilliant, and the 
markings are as heavy as on the average speci- 
mens of Buteo lineatus. Concerning this beauti- 
ful set, Mr. Bawson writes : “ Little old nest 
t 
/Y 
; 
A Favorite Nest. 
BY HON. JOHN N. CLARK, SAYBROOK, CONN. 
Within the range of one of my annual spring 
circuits was a large branching chestnut, a 
giant among giants. In its lofty summit, at 
a triple crotch, a Cooper’s Hawk {Accipiter 
cooperi ) erected her domicile in the year 1884. 
It attracted very little attention from me, ex- 
cept the observation that it was an easy ’tree 
to climb, though exceedingly high. The num- 
erous branches extended in all directions quite 
from the ground. As I passed the spot in the 
spring of 1885, I thought I perceived the glar- 
ing eyes and erect horns of a Bubo, and under 
investigation the old owl quietly departed, 
leaving to my possession a nice set of two 
Great Horned Owl’s eggs. 
settle down into it all out of sight. Is this 
after the usual manner of the Falconidon and 
Bubonidm ? I have not had extended opportu- 
nities of observation, but in none have I seen 
any except Cooper’s Hawks building themselves 
a new nest. „ „ „ 
O.&o. XII. Aug. 188 7 p. J35 
' this success in my memory, anticipa- 
tion led me promptly to the spot in 1886 and, 
quite as much to my surprise, as I approached 
the nest an old Bed-tailed Hawk {Buteo borealis ) 
launched herself from it with a wild scream of ! 
defiance. On the 7th of April I secured there- 
from the handsomest set of Buteo borealis eggs 
(one of three) that I ever saw. I could per- 
ceive but little change in the nest except per- 
haps a few clutches of fibrous bark added to 
the mass. 
As the season of 1887 approached, one of the 
first attractions was, of course, that old nest, 
but to my disappointment I found nothing per- 
ceptible from below, and yet there was a fresh- 
ness about the nest which led me there again. 
A feather was waving from one of the twigs on 
the nest, and a sharp rap on the tree made a 
barred owl ( Strix nebulosa) raise herself to the 
edge of it. She stared at me with her great 
black eyes, and flew to a tree near by, whence 
after glaring at me a moment, she screamed 
out, “Who-who-who-o-o-o-o-o,”— the third syl- 
lable long drawn out and in a high pitch for an 
owl. This was a revelation and a surprise in- 
deed. I have taken a number of sets of Barred 
Owl’s eggs, but always before from a hollow 
tree. Only a few rods away was a large oak 
With a splendid hollow in its trunk about 
eighteen feet up, whence I have taken at least 
four sets in as many years, and now old Strix 
plays the trick of renting a hawk’s nest eighty 
feet up in the open air. Well she gave me a 
fine set on the 22d of April, somewhat incu- 
bated. I could readily ]:>eroeive why she was 
invisible from below. She had worked the old 
material of the nest into walls five or six inches 
high, thus making a nest so deep she could 
