Kaptores, Bristol County, Mass. 
Hilton B. Read. 
Red-shouldered Hawk. (Buteo lineatus ) . This 
“Henhawk” is a common resident of, and breeds 
throughout the entire country, but probably 
more abundanty in the heavily wooded tracts 
of the western section. 
Nesting is variable in time, having found 
fresh sets as early as April 16th and as late as 
May 11th, and in both cases I have positive 
knowledge of their being the first laying of 
the season. 
The number of eggs to a set has been found 
complete, in number, with two, three or four, 
the two former numbers being more frequently 
found than the latter. 
The eggs vary in color and markings, to a 
large extent, some having a nearly white ground 
color, with distinct blotches of various shades 
of brown, while others have the ground color 
tinged with drab, and lack the bright con- 
trasts of the others. In the large series 
before me I fail to find any which follow a 
similar coloration or resemble each other, even 
j eggs from the same sets, contrast more strong- 
ly than those from different clutches. This 
variation is as perceivable in the eggs of the 
Red-tail, as those of the present species. They 
usually resort to large woods, and place the 
nest in a crotch of some tall tree, of good 
sized diameter of trunk, and often occupy the 
nest for successive seasons ; even when persist- 
ently harried by the collector they will return 
and build in the immediate vicinity, as has 
been the case with a pair from which I have 
secured clutches every spring since ’78; they 
resorting to the same grove for nidification, 
building a new nest each season. 
O.& O. XII. Aug, 1887 p.119 
New Eng. Raptors*. Number Eggsin 
as-et. F. H. Carpenter. 
Red-shouldered Hawk, ( Buteo lineatus ). 
104 sets of 2 
393 “ “ 3 
84 “ “ 4 
9 “ “5 
O & O. XII. Oct. 1887 p. 167 
Gollection of Raptores Eggs. J.P.N. 
Red -.shouldered Haw k, 1-1, 16-2, 32-3, 17 - 4 . <;<; j< r 
0*&0. XV* Apr. 1890. p. 50 
On April 28, 1890, I collected a set of two 
eggs of Red-sl iouldere d Hawk from an old 
crow’s nest in a birch tree standing alone in 
an open field, a very unusual nesting site, in 
this locality at least. One egg is of average size, 
and the other is a runt measuring 1.33 x 1.62. 
On April 24, 1890, a nest witli one egg of 
Red-shouldered Hawk was found in the top 
of a very tall hemlock. Visited the place 
| again May 1st, and thinking the set would 
be completed I killed the female as she left 
the nest. The nest still had but one egg in 
it, but from the parent bird just killed I cut 
I out a fully developed egg that was all ready 
depositing an egg on alternate days, but for 
some reason this one failed to do so. 
Oswego, N.Y. D. 1). Stone. 
Q&Q t XVl t March. 188 1, HX 
The first set of three R ed Shouldered Hawks (/) 't O 
from Hewitt’s Woods, Piston, were in a~7S 
twenty rods from the old tree, and the eggs, V- 
m shape and markings, duplicates of last /YK 9 A. W 
years clutch of four. The old nest is well UjJL , 
pieserved, and it is dollars to cents it will be ^ 
occupied next season. B eing comparatively a, 
yo ung lia wk, she now laysTtrios and fours. Aw 
The next set was from an o ld lineatu s that 
*l o w .. Ia y s but _two. An expert after these base 
falcons would have known there was one 
(breeding near, without seeing the nest, for 
every bush within twelve rods of the eyrie 
held a patch of down from the denuded breast 
of the sitting female. The present nest was 
m a direct line, next tree to last year’s home’ 
which w m i n turn, as we shall see, become the 
1890 abode. The Hell Gate set proved to be 
in design and coloring, a continuation of a 
long series. ^ 
