brown and vinaccoiis red.” Xo two eggs in a set arc cxactl\- 
alike in coloration, and nsnally in a set of three, two will be 
darker than the third. The eggs in a large series average in 
size 2.40 X T. 75 . I think the period of inenhation is twenty- 
one clays, hilt there appears to he a lack of absolute informa¬ 
tion, and 1 can find no positive record of the actual time, some 
claiming that twenty-eight days is necessary to hatch the yoimg. 
"The newdy hatched young or nestling has a close, dense 
ccivering- of short down : the color of this down is mostly sooty 
or even black, hut on the head and sides of neck is relieved 
by grayish tufts, and along the hack from nape to tail by a 
wide whitish stripe; tufts of a grayish color also diversify the 
hack, while the abdomen is of a dirty white line and the thighs 
are immaculate white on their inner surface.” 
But a single brood is raised in a season, and when the eggs 
have been taken from the nest they soon lay another set. Often 
the English Sparrows build their nest in the interstices of the 
Fish Hawks', and on Plum Island the Purple Crackle also 
place their nests in like situations. In a cavity of a tree in 
w hich an osprey had a nest a pair of Tree Sw^allow^s had taken 
up their abode, and at the time of my visit they had laid five 
eggs. Cpon the approach of a person near the nest the bird, 
which is sitting, will rise up and utter a shrill wdiistle, and 
upon nearer approach, it flies off uttering its shrill cries wdiich 
.soon bring the male, and if one climbs to the nest, they circle 
overhead, occasionally making a dive at the intruder and com¬ 
ing within a few' feet, hut checking their course and sweeping 
by overhead “their wings making a loud whizzing in the air.” 
Personally I have never known one to attack a person wdien at 
the nest, but they a()proach close enough to make one feel 
uneasy, especially if you are at a nest fifty feet alx)ve ground. 
Judge John Clark of Saybrook, Conn., is quoted in Ben- 
dire’s "Life Histories of North Ameriean Birds,” as follows: 
“One curious fact in reference to the Osprey I noticed here on 
two occasions, was the building of nests late in the summer, 
either for next year's occupancy or for resting in during the 
season, long after breeding time w'as over. One such nest was 
used the next spring; in the other case the bird was shot.” 
'I'he belief is common among farmers of this state, iqx)!! 
wdiose property the Osprey's rear their young, that they are of 
