A Series of Eggs of Accipiter fuscus. 
BY J. P. N. 
The eggs of the Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipi- 
ter fuscus, or, according to the A. O. U nomen- 
clature A. velox,) ai'e among the most beauti- 
ful of any of the Itaptores. They are subject to 
great variation in markings, and yet, as a rule, 
they can be identified at a glance. With the 
exception of the eggs of the Sparrow Hawk 
(Tiiuiunculus spare erius) they are the smallest 
laid by any of the Hawks found in North 
America. 
In the following series it will be noticed that 
many of the finest sets were collected by the 
well-known “ J. M. W.” (Jlr. C. L. Kawson), 
of Norwich, Connecticut, to whom I am under 
great obligations for all of his fine clutches of 
this species, as well as for the permission to 
use his valuable field notes. 
Set I. May 1.3, 188.S. Blue Mountains, Nortli- 
ampton County, Penn. Four eggs, very light 
bluish white ground color; almost globular. 
No. 1. Unmarked, except with a very few small 
spots of burnt umber, which are so scattered 
and far apart that the general effect is that of 
an unspotted egg: 1.36x1.37. No. 2. Spotted 
and blotched at the larger end only with dark 
chestnut: 1.34x1.19. No. 3. Faintly clouded 
and spotted wdth fawn color. One or two spots 
are burnt umber: 1.32x1.14. No. 4. Lightly 
and sparingly spotted at the smaller end with 
burnt umber: 1.34x1.16. 
SetH. May 30, 1879. Blue Mountains, North- 
ampton County, Penn. Four eggs, ground 
color faint bluish white. No. 1. Quite point- 
ed ; marbled, clouded and spotted with light 
fawm color. The markings form an indistinct 
band around the centre of the egg: 1.. 13x1. 19. 
No. 2. Marbled, clouded and spotted with 
light fawn color : 1.64 X 1.19. No. 3. Marbled, 
clouded and spotted with light fawn color. 
The markings are principally grouped around 
the smaller end: 1.52x1.18. No. 4. Marbled 
and spotted with light fawn color and a few 
spots of burnt umber; 1.51x1.16. The colors 
on this set are very unusual for this species. 
Set III. May 3, 1885. East Templeton, Mass. 
Mar. iooo.j 
Collected by John B. Wheeler. Female taken. 
Nest situated in hemlock tree, about forty feet 
from the ground, in a deep wooded ravine. 
Three eggs, fresh ; light grayish white ground 
color. No. 1. Marked all over the surface 
with light pearl gray spots, more or less dis- 
tinct. Near the larger end there are a few 
spots of ecru drab, but the general efteet of tlie 
egg at a short distance is that it is entirely 
unmarked; 1.49x1.17. No. 2. Spotted and 
blotched all over the surface with russet and 
lavender-gray: 1.24x1.16. No. 3. Spotted and 
blotched with chestnut and russet. The mark- 
ings are much heavier at the larger end, w'here 
they become confluent. There are also a few 
light pearl gray spots : 1.47 x 1.14. 
Set IV. May 22,1882. Preston, Conn. Col- 
lected by “J. M. W.” Nest an old one, in tall 
pine, in heavy pine grove. Small female, very 
wild. Thirty other trees with old nests exam- 
ined later but no second clutch found. Four 
eggs, fresh; very light bluish white ground 
coloi-. No. 1. The ground color of this egg lias 
more of a bluish tinge than any of the others. 
Entirely unmarked save for a very few and in- 
distinct fawn colored spots near the smaller 
end: 1.50x1.16. No. 2. Spotted very indis- 
tinctly with russet near the smaller end. The 
remainder of the surface is entirely unmarked : 
1.44x1.15. No. 3. Spotted and blotched with 
burnt umber and fawn color. The markings 
form an indistinct band around the egg at its 
greatest circumference, but there are also a few 
near the smaller end. No. 4. Spotted and 
blotched with chestnut. The markings are 
much heavier near the larger end, where they 
become confluent and almost cover the surface : 
1.45x1.18. 
Set V. June 2, 1880. Northampton County, 
Penn. Collected by Theodore Roth. Four 
eggs, incubation begun ; light bluish white 
ground color. No. 1. Marbled and spotted, 
principally at the larger end, with buriit um- 
ber : 1.47x1.16. No. 2. Spotted and blotched 
with burnt umber, more heavily at the smaller 
end: 1.46x1.17. No. 3. Blotched with bui-nt 
umber: 1.43x1.20. No. 4. Spotted and blotched 
with burnt umber : 1.50 x 1.20. 
Set VI. June 6, 1881. Ledyard, New Lon- 
don County, Conn. Collected by “ J. M. W.” 
Old nest, re-touched in hemlock, in grove of 
pines and hemlocks. Both parents shot at nest. 
Female as large as Accipiter cooperi. Five eggs, 
incubation begun ; dull grayish white ground 
coloi-. No. 1. Spotted and blotched, principally 
at the larger end, with burnt umber : 1 .58 x 1.23. 
No. 2. Spotted with burnt umber and fawn col- 
or, over most of the surface: 1.56x1.25. No. 
3. Spotted and blotched with burnt umber and 
fawn color. The markings are heavier near the 
smaller end: 1.58x1.22. No. 4. Streaked and 
spotted, more heavily at the smaller end, with 
burnt umber and traces of pearl-gray: 1.55 x 
1.20. No. 5. Spotted and blotched with burnt 
umber. I'he markings are much heavier near 
the smaller end, where they form an indistinct 
wreath: 1.53x1.23. This set has all the eggs 
of an unusually large size for this species. 
SetVII. April 11, 1879. Knox County, Ohio. 
Collected by A. G. Nest in a hemlock about 
twenty-five feet from the ground. Bird seen to 
fly from nest. Five eggs, fresh ; grayish white 
ground color. No. 1. Spotted and blotched 
with burnt umber, forming an indistinct band, 
around the centre of the egg: 1.64x1.25. No. 
2. Spotted and blotched with burnt umber and 
cinnamon. The markings are much heavier 
near the centre of the egg: 1.64x1.24. No. 3. 
Spotted and blotched with burnt umber. One 
of the blotches is very large, and is near the 
centre of the egg : 1.55x1.25. No. 4. Blotched 
with burnt umber, heavier and closer together 
near the centre of tiie egg: 1.60x1.25. Re- 
markably large eggs for this species. In fact 
both this set and set VI must be regarded as 
quite phenomenal in size. 
Set VIH. June 1, 1881. Preston, New Lon- 
don County, Conn. Collected by “ J. M. W.” 
Small nest, only ten feet from the ground, in a 
low pine tree. Seven eggs, fresh. Nest dis- 
covered with one egg on May 20th. Not visited 
again until June 1st, when the female was found 
covei-ing this large clutch. Grayish white 
ground color. No. 1. Beautifully blotched, al- 
most wholly at the larger end, with chestnut. 
The markings are confluent and almost entirely 
cover the larger end of the egg: 1.48x1.27. 
No. 2. Clouded and blotched with chestnut, al- 
most entirely over the whole surface: 1.44 x 
1.15. No. 3. Almost spherical, clouded and 
blotched with chestnut: 1.35x1.22. No. 4. 
Beautifully blotched and clouded with chest- 
nut, over the whole surface, more or less : 1.44 
xl.20. No. 5. Clouded, blotched and speckled 
with chestnut, more heavily near the smaller 
end; 1.45x1.15. No. 6. Clouded and blotched 
with chestnut. The markings become conflu- 
ent near the smaller end: 1.48x1.18. No. 7. 
Blotched and clouded with chestnut, more 
heavily near the smaller end : 1.49 xl.l6. 
Set IX. May 17, 1883. Blue Mountains, 
Northampton County, Penn. Collected by 
Shriller. Nest in fork of white pine tree, about 
thirty-six feet from the ground. Four eggs. 
