UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES AFIELD 129 



open field where the poet had sought refuge upon 

 a day when it had been predicted that he would 

 meet his deatb-by something falling upon his head. 

 In an open field I saw the hawk rising from the 

 ground, in its talons the body of a long blacksnake 

 squirming and twisting. The bird ascended in 

 almost perpendicular flight to a height perhaps 

 three times that of the tallest trees bordering the 

 field. It dropped the snake and plunged headlong 

 after it, reaching the ground at practically the 

 same time. It immediately caught up the stunned 

 snake, mounting again even higher than before, 

 where it again dropped its prey. When the hawk 

 took up the snake the next time its body hung 

 straight and limp, so the bird sailed away toward 

 an adjoining piece of tall timber. 



Another time I saw only a part of the efforts of 

 a hawk to secure a dinner which made a very amus- 

 ing spectacle. I was riding north on the Grand 

 Rapids and Indiana Railway, when I saw a big 

 chicken hawk drop on a chicken, which was about 

 three fourths grown — or if full-grown, a small hen. 

 The hen saw the hav/k in time to make a frantic 

 plunge for the shelter of a snake fence, separating 

 two fields. She came so near being caught that the 

 interested passengers on the train could see her 

 feathers fall from the haw T k's talons as he arose. 

 The chicken gained the fence and darted through 

 a crack. The hawk arose and dropped on the 

 other side of the fence. The chicken turned and 



