Nesting of the Pigeon Hawk. 
BY H. R. TAYLOR. 
As the eggs of the Pigeon Hawk ( Falco j 
columbarius ) are very seldom found I wish to 
record the taking of a splendid set on April 6th, i 
1888. 
I first saw the nest late in May, one year ago, 
when it contained three young birds ready to 
fly. It was on a steep mountain-side on the ! 
large stock ranch of my friend J. P. Sargent, 
in Santa Clara Co. Cal., on a ledge of a pre- 
cipitous bluff about thirty-five feet high. 
While near the nest last year the old bird! 
was astonishingly fearless and would swoop 
down close to my head, uttering ear-piercing 
cries. These angry demonstrations, while they 
made me somewhat apprehensive of damaged 
eyes, afforded an excellent opportunity for 
jotting down a description of the falcon. 
When I visited the nest this season the bird 
flew off as I came up, and winged its peculiar 
flight across the canyon, when it settled quiet- 
ly on the hill-side. 
My friend R. C. Sargent adjusted the end of a 
rawhide lariat to my body and as soon as the 
rope had been passed round a small shrub, 
which grew above, I swung over the edge, and 
was slowly lowered toward the nest. 
As the nest was rather in from the face of 
the cliff I found it difficult to get a foot-hold, 
but when I did at last, I saw that it was com- 
posed simply of pieces of friable rock, and in it 
to my delighted surprise were five eggs. I soon 
had them stowed away aud was speedily and 
safely lowered to the bottom. 
Audubon, it will be remembered, found 
several nests of this bird in Labrador, each 
with five eggs. The nests were on the top 
branches of low fir trees and only from ten to 
twelve feet from the ground. 
The eggs of this set proved to have large 
embryos, but with patience I succeeded in 
blowing them. They are heavily marked with 
a light brown, so heavily that in one or two the 
ground color is entirely obscured. 
O &0. XIII. Dec. 1888 p.185 
A PhiladelphiaCollection of Eggs of 
the Raptores. 
JEsalon columbarius. Pigeon Hawk. Two 
sets of four. Total: two sets, eight eggs. 
O.&O. XIV. Mar. 1889 p.45 
Collection of Raptores Eggs. J.P.'N. 
Pigeon Hawk, 
O.&O. XV. Apr. 1890. p. 5S 
