The Marsh Hawk and Its Eggs. 
PART I. 
One June morning, while I stood in a 
barn-yard by the side of a farmer with a 
loaded gun in his hands, watching a pair 
of Buteos lazily circling overhead, a Marsh 
Hawk came skimming over the wall, and 
picking up a chicken, was away with its 
quarry before the slow rustic battery could 
be brought to bear. It is for such occa- 
sional forays that this useful harrier is 
shot by the average farmer; the quail- 
shooter empties a shell of No. 10 shot at 
him when he coines within range, while 
the country boys, marking down the nests, 
wring the necks of the young Hawks and 
get fifteen cents apiece for them from the 
town clerk, in accordance with the frequent 
votes in town meeting of a bounty on all 
“ Crows, Hawks and Owls." Hence Marsh 
Hawks are decreasing in numbers in New 
London County, and I know' of three 
marshy meadows, near by, where they 
used to breed yearly, over which no harri- 
er’s wing has brushed for many a day. 
What the Buteos do for us in keeping- 
down that great nuisance, the red squir- 
rel, the Marsh Haw'k also accom 2 Dlishes in 
the line of ground rodents and vermin. 
And there are some observant farmers who 
have seen him on a still hunt, slowly sail- 
ing along just over the tops of the huck- 
leberry bushes, who appreciate his ser- 
vices, as is shown by the local names given 
him in Connecticut of “Mouser,” “Mole 
Hawk,” and “ Snake Hawk.” 
In July, ’74, when crossing a range of 
bare upland pastures, I was startled by a 
confused shadow of wdld wings, and had 
barely time to snatch my little tan terrier 
which was following me, from the grasp of 
a pair of large Marsh Hawks. For many 
minutes the baffled Haw’ks followed us, 
swooping down with angry screams near 
enough to be struck with a cane. Carry- 
ing the dog to a place of safety, I came 
back to a brushy marsh in the centre of 
li/y-iy. /frr L/, 
per s 
the pastures, and found four young Hawks 
that never knew' how near they came to 
having a meal of imported terrier. The 
dog w'eighed nearly four pounds, and that 
he could have been carried or dragged in- q^gj.g 
to the nest by the old birds, we know from g ^^g 
recorded instances of the power of levita- 
tion given by Buteos and Fish Hawks. gg^g 
The nest, which was a bulky affair, seven j g.^g 
inches high and fifteen inches in horizon- pggjg 
tal diameter, was taken home and is still j 
in good condition. Nests of slight pre- jj; 
tensions are often met with, and I have .xten 
taken eggs from a mere depression in dry ggmg 
sphagnum moss. In the last case, how- gg, pg 
ever, the over-harried bird sought conceal- * 
ment for her clutch by making no nest. 
The large nests seen, if not built to avoid 
submersion by water, are the results of 7 
nesting in the same spot for a series of were 
years. The account given above, was my 4end 
first introduction to a pair of Marsh 
Haw'ks, from which I took several sets of 
plain eggs, in sets of four and five. 
Later, from other Hawks of this species, I ound, 
took sets of three, four, and five unmarked 
eggs. The eggs when first laid are green- 
ish blue, fading before the clutch is com- 
plete to the “ dirty white,” which is given by 
closet oologists as the true color of the eggs. ; with 
I had often heard inquiry for marked sets .a sets 
and for sets extreme in point of numbers, which 
but not till ’81 and ’82 did I meet with as she 
these desiderata. — J. M. W., JVonmoh^ Ct. jg gj^jg 
p. S’* .. 
' \and laid ten eggs for me. 1 removed them 
’\n the 24th of July- Incubation was-.then 
I w^l advanced; the embryos were ab'&ut 
' thehsame size in each egg, which showeA,^ 
the krd had changed her mode of incuba- 
tion, a^ the eggs in the first set varied from 
a fresh one to five that were just on the 
point of ‘patching. The eggs were ar- 
ranged three layers thick in each of the 
nests containing nineteen; which to me 
was a strange arrangement. ^ Considering 
the number of eggs and their size, which 
in proportion to the birds is quite large, 
averaging 2.46X1.83, it seems to be the 
Rapfcores, Bristol County, Mass. 
Hilton B. Bead. 
Circus iiudsonius : First set of four iilay 18, 
second set of five June 3, and third set of three 
June 18, Long Society. May 18, two sets of lives, 
Broad Brook and Ayer’s JactOTv. May 23, ^tM 
five. North Stonington. jS./f. 
O.SrO. X.Feb.1885.D.<2*^ 
Marsh Hawk (Circus Ititdsonius) . This species 
is coiniiion in summer and has been observed 
in winter. 
Its nest has been found commonly and differ- 
ing from all other liawks it builds on the 
ground, usually in some clump of low buslies, 
on a liummock, near low meadows and marshes. 
The eggs are laid about tlie second w'eek in 
May, and a complete set numbers five, and 
in some instances six, but principally the 
former. 
The food of the hawk consists of frogs, mice 
and other “humhle game’’ in search of which he 
may be seen quartering over the meadow's or 
following some winding course of a brook, in- 
tent upon securing some unlucky halrachian. 
This hawk is represented in all sections of 
the county and reports of the nesting liavc 
been received from nearly every town, conclu- 
sively proving it to bo one of our most common 
raptores. 
O.&O. XII, Aug. 1887 p.ns 
CO lO CO 
O 00 GO t'' rH 
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