teen UROSU BR OeNe) Brel Ob Beret N 9 
feeble chippering note. Female still perched in tree behind blind. Repeats 
“short” call several times. 
8:19—Female returns to original perch in front of blind. Gives 
“long” call. 
8:30—Female leaves perch after giving “long” call. Nestlings are 
instantly alert. They stand up, stretch their wings over their heads, preen, 
and make quick stabs at the vegetation of the nest. 
8:37—“Long” call of the female heard. Young begin peeping as she 
appears carrying something in her talons. She circles low over nest but 
goes off. The young flap their wings and scan the sky. One walks into 
the marsh. 
8:42—Another nestling follows the first into the marsh, and food calls 
are heard from a spot near where they disappeared. 
8:45—A third nestling enters marsh. Only youngest remains. 
8:45—Female leaves young in marsh with something in her claws. She 
was not seen alighting. One of the young returns to the nest. 
8:47—Female alights in nest with beak full of dried grasses. Young 
greet her with food calls. She presses the material into the center of the 
nest and leaves. 
8:49—Female returns with about a six inch stick, places it in center 
of nest, glares at blind, gives “long” call, and then leaves. | 
9:20—Female comes to young in marsh and gives “long” call. They 
respond with food calls. The two young remaining in the nest are nervous. 
The female leaves, carrying what appears to be a tuft of dried grasses 
in her beak. 
By 9:50 all the young had left the nest and wandered into the marsh. 
No longer being able to observe them, I left the blind. I was standing a 
few feet from it, adjusting my camera, when the female swooped down 
and struck me on the head from behind. Although not painful, the experi- 
ence was surprising. 
My brother and I again returned to the nesting area on July 1. The 
mother hawk was particularly belligerent and struck us both on the head 
while we were in the vicinity. We were interested to find one of the 
nestlings in another nest about 40 feet from the original one. It was of 
similar construction, but slightly smaller in diameter and not built as high 
above the water. Abundant droppings, scattered down, and a casting com- 
posed largely of fur with a few feathers, indicated that this “accessory” 
nest had been in use. 
Two feeding(?) platforms were also located near the two nests and also 
showed signs of use. They consisted of matted-down cattails, bits of dried 
grass, and a few sticks. The nestlings evidently had little difficulty in 
finding their way to and from these platforms, even though it involved 
wading through several inches of water for distances as far as 40 feet. 
Before we left the vicinity on this date, two other young flushed and flew 
unsteadily into the woods. No trace of the remaining two was found. 
We made our last visit to the area on July 18. All five young, then 
about seven or eight weeks of age, were on the wing. They did not seem 
