ty shells. These were carefully saved ' - 
The one represented here measured 3fx 
Ihe nest was situated in the open 
3f XZi 
•* 
egg of sandhill crane- 
exact SIZE. 
marsh above mentioned, and was placed hav 
I on a hand rack used by farmers for ^ ^ 
to the stack in wet 
».i«g .b„.. 1. « ™ I 
W 
c 
H A i 
Fdhill crane. 
dates 
Feb. 19, 
Mar. 19, 
Mar. 16, 
Mar. 8, 
Apr. 2, 
Mar. 2", 
Mar. 31, 
Apr. 12, 
Mar. 20, 
-Dr. 
Apr. 3, 1866. 
Mar. 25, 1867. 
Mar. 13, 1868. 
Mar. 28, 1869. 
- ' Mar: 31, 1870. 
Mar. 9, 1871. 
Mar. 28, 1872. 
-Mar. 19, 1873. 
Alar. 20, 1874. 
1857, 
, 1868. 
. 1859. 
1860. 
1861.- 
1862. 
1863. 
1864. 
-1865. 
Mar. 27, 1875. 
Apr. ;8, 1876. 
Mar. 30. 1877. 
Mar. 15, 1878. 
Apr. 9, 1871. 
Mar. 30, 1880. 
Mar. 29, 1881. 
^ar. 1, 1882. 
Mar. 13, 1888. 
TT A A , Mar. 13, 1 
Locke, Michigan. 
Z' Two nests of Marsh Hawk found May 
12, contained five eggs each. One nest was 
placed in a thick clump of wild rose bushes 
and briars, some two feet from the ground 
or rather water, as it was in an overflowed 
cranberry 
~ - h 
CQ+(P. QC, co^. 
May, 1882, I took clutches of Cooper’s 
Hawk handsomely spotted, and on corres- 
ponding dates in 1883, from the same 
birds similar sets. This, with other data 
at hand, tends to show that the Accipiters 
and Marsh Hawks which lay plain sets one 
year will lay plain sets the next j-ear, and 
that those that lay the prized marked sets 
may fairly be counted on to do so in sue 
cessive seasons. Though this has been 
doubted by some authorities, with whom I 
still have a bone to pick, yet I can show it 
to be the rule among the Buteos, by exten 
sive yearly series of eggs from the same 
localities. Individual shapes will also be 
■FniTn/l /-vl-v4o-.’i-v 
on arriving at the lagoon to find only five 
or six Euddys in sight. As they , were- 
males, I surmised the females were attend 
ing to household cares, so prepare^ to 
make them a call, but only succeeded in 
finding one nest. However, as ^is con- 
tained five eggs, the first I had aver found, 
I felt quite 'elated. I remov^ the eggs 
and called again.y>n the 26tMf June. Ev- 
idently I was expected, ^ I found the 
nest deserted, but V losing around in 
the vicinity I found tit^;'other nests, with 
nineteen eggs in each.: took both sets 
and one of the nests,- the Asmer of which > 
was more generous than the ^hers, as she 
constructed another nest on th^ame site 
V and laid ten eggs ..for me. I remoV'sd them 
\n the 24th of July- Incubation wali then 
^1 advanced 5 the embryos were abXut 
thl'^ame size in each egg, which showed,.^ 
the %d had changed her mode of incuba- 
tion, \the eggs in the first set varied from 
a fresh\ne to five that were just on the 
point ofV^ching. The eggs were ar- 
ranged thr\e layers thick in each of the 
nests contaiSing nineteen; which to me 
was a strang(^6rrangement. ^ Considering 
the number of \gs and their size, whic 
j in proportion to the birds is quite large, 
P averaging 2.46X1.83, it seems to be the 
~ Circus iiudsonius -. First set of four May 18, 
second set of five June 2, and third set of three 
June 18, Long Society. May 18, two sets of fives, 
Broad Brook and Ayer’s Jactwv. May 23,^tof 
five. North Stonington. 
O.&o. X.'Feb.1885.o 
.Hi' 
Raptores, Bristol County, Mass. 
Hilton B. Read. 
i Marsh Hawk (Circles /iMffeonra,?). This species 
i is coininon in suininer and has been observed 
ill winter. 
Its nest has been found coniiuouly and differ- 
ing from all otlier hawks it builds on the 
ground, usually in some clump of low bushes, 
1 on a hummock, near low meadows and marshes. 
The eggs are laid about the second week in 
I 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 “humble game” in search of which he 
may be seen quartering over the meadows or 
following some winding course of a brook, in- 
tent upon securing some unlucky batracMan. 
This hawk is represented in all sections of 
the county and reports of the nesting have 
been received from nearly every town, eoncln- 
siveljr proving it to be one of our most common 
raptores. 
0,&0. XII. Aug. 1887 P.1I8 
h- 
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