I shells. These were earpfnliT t !' ^ ' - - — . 
I The one represented here measured'7|x ^^The' ^'e^aining one was a trifle smaller. 
4 X The nest was situated in the open 
egg op SANDIlrLL CRANE- 
-exact size. 
hand radi used W to tj, stack wet seasons. It 
y b feet in length by 2 ^ in width, 
m 
wjl 
T)r FT A A.T. ' -War. 13 , ] 
r-T-T^i Ml Locke, Michigan. 
mniLL CRANE. 
May, 1882, I took dutches of Cooper’s 
HaAvk 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 year, 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 hax'e a bone to pick, yet I can show it 
i to be the rule among the Buteos, by exten 
' siA'e yearly series of eggs from the same 
localities. Individual shapes will also be 
+/-\ y^l'v + r«T«^ J 1 
The Marsh Hawk and Its Eggs. 
i 
PART 11. 
Early and authentic mention has been 
made of large sets of eggs of Circus liud- 
sonius. But the reference on Page 115 of 
Brewer’s N. Am. Oology (Smithsonian, 
1858,) to clutches of eleven, twelve and 
thirteen, with their misty data, may now 
be dismissed from the record. Some ac- 
count of a nest of seven can be found in 
the O. and O., Page 14, Vol. VI. Last 
year, in his fresh Northwestern field, Capt. 
Bendire took a set of seven plain eggs. 
The same season, I took an extreme set of 
seven covered with showy markings. May 
14, 1882, the nest had four eggs, and it held 
seven fresh eggs when taken. May 21. The 
i three added eggs were bluer than the 
■ others, but the first part of the clutch had 
' the best markings. These were not the 
Z' T' mere “ accidental deposits of lymph,” re- 
12, ( ferred to by the late Dr. Brewer as liable 
jilac^ to appear on all plain eggs. But they pre- 
andl sen ted a good superficial design and the 
or rj cloudy sub-shell coloring seen on average 
CTan sets of Bed-shouldered Hawks. May 20, 
/a 1883, secured another set of five nicely 
^ marked eggs from this pair of Hawks. In 
/ f 
— Circus jiudsonius : First set of four May 18, 
second set of live .June 2, and tliird set of three 
June 18, Long Society. May 18, two sets of fives. 
Broad Brook and Ayer’sPactmv. May 23,^tof 
five. North Stonington. 
3LOGIST 
[Vol. 9-No. 2 
an acceptable paper. The theory of its 
publication contemplates the aid and co- 
operation of all sincere ornithologists and 
particularly reliable correspondents in differ- 
ent localities throughout the United States. 
Without this, its object can never be ac- 
complished. By “reliable correspondents 
we do not mean youth who think that to 
part of the marsh, where they were taken 
only after long and careful search. 
The Marsh Hawk is, perhaps, the most 
noiseless of our breeding rapaciae. Some 
individuals have an intonation of the Eish 
Hawk, but in general the cry approaches 
more nearly that of the Cooper. To those 
who only know the subject of this sketch 
as the skimmer of the meadows, floating 
and quartering spaniel-like over brushy 
lowlands, he will hardly seem like a being 
of the upper air. Yet he has his aspira- 
tions, as we may see. In the forenoon of 
May 9, 1878, (an exceptionally early sea- 
son,) I took three sets of eggs of Marsh 
Hawk in North Stonington ; and in. those 
wide meadows, where there were no trees 
I 
O.&O. X.Feb. 1885.0. 
U 
Rapfcores, Bristol County, Mass. 
Hilton B. Read. 
Marsh Hawk {Circus Imdsonius) . This species 
is common in summer and has been observed 
in winter. 
Its nest has been found commonly and differ- 
ing from all otlier hawks it builds on the 
ground, usually in some clump of low bushes, 
I 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 
I 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 unluck}^ batrachian. 
This hawk is represented in all sections of 
the county and reports of the nesting have 
been received from nearly every towm, conclu- 
sively proving it to bo one of our most common 
raptores. 
0,& 0. XII, Aug. 1887 p.118 
a 
fO lO O 
.S ^ 5 S 
M 
