RED-TAILED HAWK. 47 



trees in the secluded forests of this part of Massachusetts. 

 The young birds soon become very submissive, and allow them- 

 selves to be handled with impunity by those who feed them. 

 The older birds sometimes contest with each other in the air 

 about their prey, and nearly or wholly descend to the earth 

 grappled in each other's talons. Though this species has the 

 general aspect of the Buzzard, its manners are very similar to 

 those of the Goshawk ; it is equally fierce and predatory, 

 prowling around the farm often when straitened for food, 

 and seizing, now and then, a hen or chicken, which it snatches 

 by making a lateral approach : it sweeps along near the sur- 

 face of the ground, and grasping its prey in its talons, bears it 

 away to devour in some place of security. These depredations 

 on the farm-yard happen, however, only in the winter ; at all 

 other seasons this is one of the shyest and most difficult 

 birds to approach. It will at times pounce upon rabbits and 

 considerable-sized birds, particularly Larks, and has been 

 observed in the Southern States perseveringly to pursue 

 squirrels from bough to bough until they are overtaken and 

 seized in the talons. It is frequently seen near wet meadows 

 where mice, moles, and frogs are prevalent, and also feeds 

 upon lizards, — appearing, indeed, often content with the 

 most humble game. 



They usually associate in pairs, and seem much attached to 

 each other ; yet they often find it convenient and profitable to 

 separate in hunting their prey, about which they would readily 

 quarrel if brought into contact. Though a good deal of their 

 time passes in indolence, while perched in some tall and dead- 

 ened tree, yet at others they may be seen beating the ground 

 as they fly over it in all directions in quest of game. On some 

 occasions they amuse themselves by ascending to a vast eleva- 

 tion, like the aspiring Eagle. On a fine evening, about the 

 middle of January, in South Carolina, I observed one of these 

 birds leave its withered perch, and soaring aloft over the wild 

 landscape, in a mood of contemplation, begin to ascend 

 towards the thin skirting of elevated clouds above him. At 

 length he passed this sublime boundary, and was now per- 



