snugly and regularly lined with the hark of the 
red cedar. Altogether it did not look unlike cer- 
tain Crow’s nests which I can recall. During my 
ascent of the tree the birds manifested the liveliest 
concern, but in no wise interfered with me. I 
had come, with a stout box and plenty of cotton, a 
distance of eight miles, for the express purpose of 
taking home a set of eggs, and so I was corres- 
pondingly disappointed when I saw before me a 
newly-made and empty nest. However it only 
served to whet an eager oologist’s desire, and on 
May 14th I returned. Again 1 attacked the sturdy 
tree, and again I slowly made my way up and 
around it. This time the birds both manifested a 
determined resistance, the female especially flying 
quite close to me as I approached the nest. We 
all have certain moments in our lives which stand 
out pre-eminently and remain forever associated 
with certain actions or exploits. This was one of 
mine when I leaned over, and saw the three beau- 
tiful eggs which it contained. The ground color 
of this set is a clear yellowish white, scarcely 
seen under the spots, blotches and scratches of 
reddish brown which cover the greater portion o f 
the eggs. They measure 2.02x1.64 ; 2.00x1.62, 
and 2.00x1.60. Their clean appearance is due 
solely to the fact that they had not been sat on 
more than four or five days, as evidenced by their 
comparative freshness. 
The tree from which I took this set was situ- 
ated in a dense wood, in a solitary spot, and fully I 
half a mile from the nearest house. This pair of 
hawks were the only ones occupying this spot, 
and the nest was undoubtedly newly made, i 
Numberless Crows found suitable building places : 
in the locality, and may have felt slighted at my 
discrimination in climbing to the nest of their 
nobler neighbor to the entire exclusion of their 
own. 
This is the only set of eggs of Buteo penn- 
sylvanicus which I have heard of being taken in 
Delaware County and I would gladly essay climb- 
ing a more difficult tree, and journey twice eight 
miles to duplicate the performance in any succes- 
sive season. Another visit on June 2d showed | 
the nest to have been deserted, and the Buteos ‘ 
to have left the neighborhood. 
o.&o. ^iaeuiase.p. fS-w 
Blue Yellow-backed Warbler. — A 
Large Set. 
\ / \ 
A set of sikv.eggs of ptirula amerieana, was 
taken June 4, ’85, being- ihe only instance of my 1 
finding the above number in one set in ten years’ 
collecting. Is it common to. find as many as six 
in a set ?— B. JF. P. 
Nesting of the Broad-winged Hawk 
in Chester County, Penn. 
BY FRANK L. BURNS, BERWYN, PENN. 
Although much has been written in regard 
to the nesting of the Broad-winged Hawk ( Buteo 
pennsiylvanicus ) there seems to be a general 
demand for more information on the subject. 
As has already been remarked by a writer to 
the O. & O. “ the habits of a bird vary greatly 
in different localities.” This Hawk is a rare 
summer resident, rarely found breeding in this 
County. Mr. T. H. Jackson noted three well 
authenticated sets taken there during the past 
thirteen years, of one, two and three eggs (Vol. 
XII, No. 7, O. & O.) I would add a set of four 
taken by Mr. Wayne Baugh, of Tredyffrin 
Township, in 1884. This is probably the finest 
clutch of this species ever taken in the county. 
On the 4th of May of the present year while 
walking along an old cartroad, which ran 
through a belt of chestnut timber, a Hawk flew 
from an old Crow’s nest about twenty yards 
ahead, and perched on a tree at no great dis- 
tance. Not having my climbers along I re- 
turned in the evening. Now I felt dubious about 
this nest; I remembered climbing to it one hot 
day two years ago, and on reaching it (accom- 
panied by a small army of mosquitoes') I was 
disgusted to find it empty, and at the touch, 
clouds of dust filled my eyes and settled on my 
perspiring face and neck. However I climbed 
once more, and was pleased to find one richly 
marked egg. It would be well to remark here, 
that when about half way up I heard a mourn- 
ful half whistle, half whine, which was repeated 
at regular intervals until I decended. At first 
1 1 thought it must be a Swallow, but as it was 
repeated, and remembering certain notes on the 
Broad-winged Hawk in Vol. XIII, No. 2, 
O. & O., I concluded I had found the nest of 
that species. 
On the 7th the nest contained two eggs, the 
female flushed at my approach. On the 11th 
the female was shot as she left the nest, and 
the three eggs secured. At this the final climb, 
J the male betrayed his presence in a near-by tree 
] (for the first time) by the snapping of his beak 
I (which sounded similar to the drumming of a 
! Downy Woodpecker) but kept well hidden. 
! The nesting place was surrounded from South 
; to Northeast by at least a quarter of a mile of 
Chestnut growth, of from twenty to seventy 
feet in height ; while the nearest opening and 
pasture field on the east, was only sixty yards 
away. The nest was in a crotch, exactly 
thirty-eight feet from the ground. The eggs 
measure 1.94x1.62,1.88x 1.62, and 1.89x1.63 
inches; and in markings, Mr. Jackson’s des- 
cription of the set of three taken by himself in 
1887 might almost describe this set also, egg for 
egg. The female bird measures thirty-five 
i nCheS &gfe“W£^eai^in p l^ s 
A Philadelphia Collection of Eggs of 
the Raptores.., 
Biiteo pennsylvanicus. Broad- winged Hawk. 
One set of four, six sets of three, ten sets of 
two. Total: seventeen sets, forty- two eggs. 
O.&O. XIV. Mar. 1889 p.4<3 
■Collection of Raptores Eggs. J.P.IL 
Broad- winged Hawk. 
10 - 2 , 7 - 3 , 1 - 4 , 13 
O.&O. XV. Apr. 1890. p. 56 
^ IciloC hfctstdM f. 6?**^ 
The Broad-winged Hawk, ( Buteo v enmyl- 
vanicus). usually lays three or four, sometimes only 
two, but their number-is given as high as five by 
some writers, r 
