Nesting of the Duck Hawk on 
Sugar Loaf, Mass. 
Mt. 
Among some of the sets of eggs taken in 
Massachusetts that can be called rare or 
valuable to the ornithologist are those of 
the Duck Hawk ( Falco pcregrinus ana 
tum} . There are probably only six places 
in all New England where this bird can be 
found breeding, namely, Talcott Mountain, 
Conn., Mount Holyoke, Mount Tom, and 
Sugar Loaf Mountain, Mass., Brandon, Vt. 
and Mount Katahdin, Maine. In the three 
localities in Massachusetts there is but one 
pair of the Hawks at a place the same season, 
: and as the bird always chooses an almost in- 
; accessible site in some lofty cliff for its eyrie, 
occupy a cliff the same season, and they 
usually choose an almost inaccessible cliff. 
On the 8th of April, 1892, I went to 
Sugar Loaf Mountain and there saw the 
male and female Duck Hawks. They would 
fly from one part of the mountain to the 
other, and always, as they launched out in 
the air high above the tops of the trees some 
two hundred and fifty feet below them, they 
would utter their peculiar screams. When- 
ever I would keep out of sight for any length 
of time and then reappear at the edge of 
the cliff, one of the birds would always be 
at rest on some rough crag of the rocks, or 
on a dead stump that projected from the 
ledge far below. 
I found that they returned near the same 
place every time, and so came to the con- 
it is very seldom that the eggs are found by 
1 collectors. During the past summer I had I elusion that the nesting place must be some- 
th e pleasure of finding the eyrie of one of w h ere in that vicinity ; but after long and 
these Duck Hawks on the side of Sugar 
careful observations I was obliged to come 
away without finding the exact spot, for it 
was necessary that one should have a long 
stout rope, by the assistance of which he 
might climb down the side of the cliff, in 
order to find the nest. 
I learned, however, that only one pair of 
the birds was about the place, and that one 
pair had occupied the mountain as a nest- 
ing place for many years. One week later 
j so far as I know at present, only one pair 1 ^ again visited this place in company with 
Loaf Mountain and I have written the ac- 
count of the same for the benefit of the 
readers of the “O. & O.” 
The Duck Hawks arrive from the south 
about the last week in March. They come 
in pairs, and the first to arrive at once 
choose a nesting place ; then they guard 
the whole side of the mountain for several 
j weeks before the eggs are deposited, and, 
feathers and a little grass in it. This shelf 
was about two feet six inches wide and then 
ran back in the side of the ledge three feet. 
The roof of this eyrie was only eleven inches 
from the surface of the shelf ; thus the eggs 
were entirely out of sight until you reached 
the shelf. This shelf was about ten feet 
long, and from it were growing some grasses 
and ferns. As I have stated, the nest con- 
tained four eggs, which proved to be quite 
fresh. Three of these eggs were of a dark 
brick-red color and the other one was white 
for the ground color. 
The first egg was the darkest, having a 
brick-red ground color and being thickly 
spotted and blotched with red and dark 
brown ; near the large end was quite an 
area, evenly marked with light brown spots. 
the eggs in 
1.69 x 2.04, 
1.70 x 2.13 
large end are several light brown spots and 
on the sides are a few large light brown 
blotches. 
I will give the dimensions of 
the order they are described : 
1.72 x 2. 11, 1. 71 x 2.15, and 
inches. 
To reach this eyrie with the help of a rope 
I had climbed about sixty feet down the al- 
most perpendicular side of the cliff, and as 
I sat there on that lofty shelf of red sandstone 
and beheld the beautiful expanse of the 
Connecticut valley, with the silvery river 
majestically winding its course through it, 
I thought for a moment of the results of one 
misstep which would precipitate the un- 
fortunate being nearly two hundred and fifty 
feet below. This thought, together with 
