THE ROBBERS OF THE FALLS 



hawk stands on the stub, in the act of entering the 

 nest with a chunk of bark. Why did she bring it? 

 Others can answer as well as I. I have seen other 

 hawks bring things, too. They carry in fresh green 

 sprays or leaves each day, apparently for ornament, 

 just as we have our house plants, but it is not so clear 

 why they bring lining when the nest has long been 

 built. Possibly it is because the nest keeps breaking 

 down, or the rotten sticks crumble, so they have to 

 keep adding to it, and get in the habit of bringing 

 something each time they return not otherwise laden, 

 so as to save steps, just as the farmer's boys are told to 

 bring in an armful of wood every time they come to 

 the kitchen. 



We got three more good shots that day, six in all, the 

 best day's hawking I ever had, for every one of them 

 was good. I let Ned pull the thread once, so that he 

 could say that he had taken a picture of a wild hawk 

 from life. 



I was alone when I photographed the other Broad- 

 wing; and Ned missed one of the times of his life ! The 

 hawk would not go near the nest wdiile I w^as in the 

 woods and I had no one w^ith me to go away, so next 

 time I brought my little brown umbrella tent and 

 pitched it down the stream, where I could just see if 

 the hawk went to the nest, though I could not see her 

 upon it. It was no fun rigging the camera in that 

 slender oak, wdth nothing but the trunk to hold on to, 

 one foot in a small crotch, the other supported by the 



43 



