3i8 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



The Red-shouldered Hawk. 



BY UDWIN L. JACK, PORTLAND, ME. 



High up in the sea of bkie, where a few 

 fleecy clouds were saiHng, perhaps you 

 have seen a large hawk wheeling in 

 spirals and frequently sending forth its 

 sharp cry "ker-ker-ker." The "red- 



usually some rough material such as fine 

 twigs and sometimes pieces of bark are 

 used. On this rough foundation from 

 three to four dirty-white 

 with brown are laid. 



Young hawks are very interesting 

 little fellows. Thev remain in the downy 



eggs smooched 



A VOUNC, RKD-SHOULDEREU IIAVVK THREE WEEKS Ol.l). 

 Photographed by the author. 



shoulder," like many others of the hawk 

 family, secures a large amount of its food 

 by flying high in the air and watching 

 the earth far below with its sharp eyes 

 for whatever prey happens to be moving 

 the tall grass tops in the meadows, thus 

 betraying its location and quite frequently 

 furnishing the bird with a meal. All 

 hawks are generally thought of as chick- 

 en thieves, but it is only when driven by 

 hunger that the "red-shoulder" ever ap- 

 proaches the barnyard. In the main this 

 bird's food consists of field mice, frogs 

 and snakes. 



The red-shouldered hawk is a large 

 bird, measuring twenty to twenty-four 

 inches in length : its color is brown and 

 grayish, the shoulders having 3, pro- 

 nounced reddish-brown cast from which 

 the bird derives its name. 



This hawk places its nest in the top- 

 most branches of tall trees, usually in the 

 woods. The nest is a rather rough struc- 

 ture, of small branches apparently very 

 loosely woven together, the lining is 



stage for three or four weeks and it is 

 not until they are at least two weeks old 

 that the first pin feathers appear, — soon 

 bursting forth into blackish brown feath- 

 ers. They remain in the nest about six 

 or seven weeks and when ready to leave 

 are possessed with remarkably strong 

 wings. This no doubt accounts for the 

 fact that young hawks are rarely found 

 on the ground unable to fly as are so 

 many other young birds. 



Our California navel orange originated 

 in 1822, in Brazil, as a bud sport from the 

 ordinary seeded variety introduced from 

 Portugal. Trees first reached this country 

 in 1868, but in a dying condition so that 

 only some of the buds remained alive. 

 These were promptly grafted on to seed- 

 lings at the Government greenhouses in 

 Washington. Two of these grafted trees 

 were sent to Riverside. California, in 

 1873. Now there are a hundred thousand 

 acres of them in the region, and each year 

 their fruit fills twentv-five thousand cars. 



