598 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



abundant. I am not absolutely certain, liowever, as to the 

 species. 



One August afternoon I heard an angry croaking that seemed 

 to issue from the top of a large oak. As I approached a goshawk 

 waddled out along a horizontal branch, and on another that ex- 

 tended parallel with the first 

 and only a few inches below 

 marched a crow, keeping di- 

 rectly under the hawk and 

 striking savagely at his feet. 

 Both kept their wings tightly 

 closed, and neither seemed in 

 the least excited. I do not 

 know how the quarrel ended, 

 for presently both flew to an- 

 other part of the woods to 

 argue the matter away from 

 human intelligence. There 

 seems to be a continual feud 

 between the crows and all 

 kinds of hawks, and some of 

 the disputes that arise are 

 humorous in the extreme. 

 I once saw a sharp-shinned 

 hawk that insisted on flying 

 south in company with a flock 

 of crows. To be sure, if he flew at the same height as they did, 

 he would have to fly with them, for the sky was full of crows at 

 the time, all going in the same direction ; still, he might have 

 risen above them or kept down nearer to the tops of the trees, but 

 evidently he didn't choose to. Every time a crow dashed at him 

 he would sweep down out of their ranks, only to join them a few 

 yards farther on, and when, miles away, they were only just visi- 

 ble through my glass, the dispute seemed still in progress. 



In full plumage the goshawk is bluish-slate color, and differs 

 from the other large hawks in having shorter wings, longer tail, 

 and yellow or orange-colored eyes. 



When flying, the marsh hawk has the appearance of being a 

 large bird, but in weight he would be classed among the smaller 

 hawks. A lean-bodied, loose-jointed, long-limbed bird, he sails 

 along close to the grass, carefully beating over ever foot of 

 ground in his day's hunt. The small birds seem to realize that it 

 is useless to try to escape as they do from other hawks by hiding 

 in the tall grass, and as soon as one appears you may see meadow- 

 larks, blackbirds, reedbirds, and sparrows rise in clouds and fly 

 for the nearest woods for protection. When there is a flight of 



Goshawk. 



