158 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



A Hawk Insisted on Attention. 



Interest in ornithology is generally 

 voluntary on the part of the student, 

 but here is an example in which a bird 

 demanded attention. Mrs. Harry Wat- 

 erbury, of Stamford, Connecticut, was 

 busily engaged in her household duties 

 when suddenly there came a resound- 

 ing crash of splintering wood and 

 breaking glass. Imagine her surprise 

 and terror when the greater part of a 

 window sash, glass and all, was 

 knocked inward. It appears that a red- 

 tailed hawk had been in pursuit of a 

 bird in the back yard, and in some un- 

 explained manner its steering appa- 

 ratus had failed to act properly, and 

 the hawk had dashed against the win- 

 dow. The force of the impact stunned 

 the hawk and threw it back to the 

 ground some rod or more from the 

 broken sash. As soon as Airs. Water- 

 bury had recovered her composure, she. 

 with the assistance of some of the neigh- 

 bors, put a crate over the reviving hawk 

 that was then hopping around the 

 yard. 



A specialist on birds, Mr. George B. 

 Bliss, was at once called to give expert 

 opinion in the matter. Mr. Bliss is not 

 only well versed in feathered creatures, 

 but is a sportsman. The first thing that 

 he thought of was his gun, and he 

 bravely ran to the rescue both barrels 

 loaded. But here was a new kind of 

 shooting. But to shoot a hawk at 

 short distance under a crate was con- 

 trary to all previous experiences. He 

 decided that he could not "focus" the 

 thing at that distance, or if he did, the 

 hawk would be left in fragments. So 

 he carried the bird home and deter- 

 mined to dispatch it by some other 

 method. He put it in the yard and oc- 

 casionally went to see it. Tt may be 

 supposed that he consulted books and 

 paoers as to humane methods of killinp' 

 a hawk. Should he chloroform it and 

 then blow its head off. or should he 

 decanitate it a la chicken? But the 



more he interviewed that hawk the 

 more his love for birds got the upper- 

 most of his desire to kill. Days went 

 by and he realized that something must 

 be done. The thing was approaching' a 

 critical stage. He summoned all his 

 courage and, with the necessary killing 

 implements, he bravely started forth. 

 That hawk must be killed. He looked 

 aronnd in every direction. He found a 

 suitable chopping block and grabbed 

 the hawk. But the hawk looked at him 

 piteously. Mr. Bliss again looked abotu 

 in every direction ; it was the fitting 

 moment; no one was in sight. Heart 

 and hands opened simultaneously and 

 away soared the hawk into the ethereal 

 blue. Mr. Bliss went back into his 

 store and reoorted, "That hawk got 

 awav from me." 



"The Rat of The Air"!— The English 

 Sparrow. 



BY NIEL MORROW LADD, BELLE HAVEN, 

 GREENWICH, CONN. 



There is only one bird we hate. 

 There is only one bird we take plea- 

 sure in killing 



Bird lovers will doubtless recognize 

 the English sparrow as the despised 

 species. Bird lovers who have erected 

 bird boxes to attract blue birds, flickers, 

 wrens, tree swallows, woodpeckers, 

 chicadees, robins and phoebes, will un- 

 derstand our hatred. 



Last year we had five boxes in trees, 

 and succeeded in having all occupied, 

 two by wrens, two by blue birds and 

 one by starlings. 



Late last winter we put out ten more 

 boxes — five being the ideal bird boxes 

 made after the approved Baron von 

 Berlepsh pattern. We expected great 

 results, but alas, the sparrows upset 

 our plans. 



March 17th our diary reads : "English 

 sparrows building in boxes, broke up 

 three pairs by killing with a shotgun," 

 and regularly since that date we have 

 taken out nesting material and alto- 



