BREEDING OE THE DUCK HAWK IN TREES. 
BY N. S. Goss. 
As the Falco communis var. anatum is supposed to nest almost 
exclusively on high rocky cliffs, and rarely if ever in other situa- 
tions, I think it will be of interest for me to say that I found 
in February, 1875, a pair nesting about three miles southeast of 
Neosho Falls, Kansas, in the timber on the banks of the Neosho 
River. The nest was in a large sycamore, about fifty feet from the 
ground, in a trough-like cavity formed by the breaking off of a hol- 
low limb near the body of the tree. I watched the pair closely, 
with the view of securing both the birds and their eggs. March 27 
I became satisfied that the birds were sitting, and I shot the female, 
but was unable to get near enough to shoot the male. The next 
morning I hired a young man to climb the tree, who found three 
fresh eggs, laid on the fine soft rotten wood in a hollow worked out 
of the same to fit the body. There was no other material or lining, 
except a few feathers and down mixed with the decayed wood. 
The ground-color of the eggs is grayish-ochre, spotted and 
blotched with dark reddish-brown, the blotches running together 
towards the large end, where they are' a shade darker. Length, 
respectively, 2.20, 2.30, and 2.40; diameter of each, 1.70 inches. 
March 17, 1876, I found a pair nesting on the opposite side of 
the river from the above-described nest, in a cottonwood, at least 
sixty feet from the ground, the birds entering a knot-hole in the 
tree, apparently not over five or six inches in diameter. The tree 
was very straight, and without limbs to the nest, and consequently 
out of reach. The birds were very noisy, but shy. I wounded 
both the birds, but failed to get them. 
February 2, 1877, I noticed a pair flying into the same tree. 
April 9, I shot them both. I now have the three birds in my col- 
lection. The measurements, as taken from the birds when shot, 
are as follows : — 
Sex. 
Length. Stretch of Wing. Wing. 
Tail. 
Tarsus. 
Bill. 
March 27, 1875. . 
■ • ? 
20.00 
46.00 
. 15.00 
7.60 
1.85 
.95 
April 9, 1877 
■ • ? 
19.75 
45.50 
14.75 
7.50 
1.85 
.95 
April 9, 1877 
• <? 
18.00 
41.00 
13.50 
6.50 
1.80 
.90 
Cere, .31. 
For a description of the species see “ North American Birds,” by 
Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (Yol. III. p. 128). I will add : Iris, 
brown ; bill, horn-blue, with the base pale green ; cere and eyelids, 
greenish-yellow ; legs and feet, lemon-yellow ; claws, black. 
April 30, 1877, I found a pair about four miles farther up the 
river, breeding in a hollow broken limb of a giant sycamore. From 
the actions of the birds, I think they had young. I feel confident 
they will nest there next season, and, if so, shall try very hard to 
procure the eggs. 
The birds are very noisy while mating, but silent during incuba- 
tion. The males, so far as noticed, sit upon the eggs in the fore part 
of the day, the females during the latter part of the day, each, while 
off duty, occasionally feeding the other, but putting in a good share 
of the time as sentinels, perched upon a favorite dead limb near the 
nest, ready to give the alarm in case of approaching danger. At 
such times they scold rapidly, and manifest great anxiety and fear, 
circling overhead, occasionally alighting, and taking good care to 
keep out of reach. The fear of man is not without cause, for our 
hunters never lose an opportunity to shoot at them, knowing how 
destructive they are to the water-fowls found in the sloughs along 
the river-bottoms. 
Neosho Falls, Kansas. Bull. N. O.O* 3, Jan. , 18 /8, p, ' 3^i , 
