Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/74

 A Massachusetts Duck Hawk Aery 49

speed of the return. were doubtless owing to the fact that he always went somewhat upward from the female.

In Norway. I have seen a still more wonderful sky-dance of two Pere- grines. The birds were fighting. high over the moors. and each step of the headlong dance was about a quarter of a mile long.

To return to the Berkshire Hawks. The notes of the st. s were decidedly unlike. The screams of the male were weaker. with a dI erent inflection. and less constantly iterated. than his mate's. Her common cry was a single-noted. piercing. savage scream. susceptible of tolerahli good imitation by a man's voice. Occasionally. and particularly when she had been screaming incessantly for several minutes. her voice dropped to a much

IOWer note. and she uttered a deep. gruff harking. very much like the coarsest note made by the Great Black~backed Gull on its hrceding- grounds. This note might also he likened, in some of its variations. to the 'honking' of the domestic Goose. though haying far less modulation. Though the male's voice was not so loud. he had. in addition to notes much like the female's. though less strenuous, a two-noted, half-whistling call which she appeared to lack. ln plumage the two birds were almost precisely alike. Both had strong cheek-patterns. rock-blue hacks. lightest on the tail coverts and darkest on the head. with clearly-defined dusky wave-bands, or marhlings; both were very ruddy underneath. with almost round black markings. except for the ﬂanks. which were slaty—gray barred with dusky; and both had bright yellow tarsi and feet. and yellow ceres.

I spent little time in examining the second cliﬁ that day, feeling so (on- ﬁdent that the nest was on the othert The birds were left undisturbed for a few hours: but their troubles began anew early the next morning when I returned to my task. with a competent companion and an inadequate rope. We encountered many unexpected difficulties in reaching the guano~heap. even with the rope. owing to the overhung and otherwise obstructive Con- formation of the cliﬁ at that point. But at the end of two hours of maneuvering. we managed to rig the rope for an ascent.—possible. but very unpleasant. After a few false starts. 1 scrambled up. The nest was a farce! Nothing but a shallow. empty pit in the rockvface topped the guano-heap. which was revealed as merely the mark of one of the old hirds‘ favorite perches. Of these there proved to be several. equally conspicuously branded, on the other cliff. to which we now turned our attention. For there the nest must surely be. But no! We searched many a ledge and cranny. with and without the aid of the rope. but found merely feeding- places, littered with pigeon-feathers and daubed with excrement. Further- more. the Hawks, which had once that day made a dash at us on the other cliff. now ﬂew quietlv away. and seemed to take no further interest in us or our proceedings. This was. of course, a very bad sign. which helped to discourage us. and we went away disappointed and perplexed. Next morn-