SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 107 



keh^ or kik^ kik, kik, a vehement cackling note of anger, siniiiar to 

 that of Cooper's hawk, but shriller and not so loud. Mr. Rust (1014) 

 writes it '"cha, cha, cha''\ and says the male gives "similar, but less 

 shrill cries" than the female. I have also heard a peculiar, plaintive, 

 squealing note uttered by a bird perched on the topmost branch of a 

 tall dead tree, its favorite perch; this was evidently a call note, 

 similar to the courtship call. Mr. Brown says in his notes : "The 

 sharp-shinned hawk has two distinct alarm notes when the nest is 

 approached, the usual cackling call in the earlier stages of the nest- 

 ing season and a series of squealing notes, not unlike those of the 

 grouse, after the young are hatched, alternating from one call to 

 the other when the young are well grown.'' 



W. L. Dawson (192-^) records the alarm note as yip^ yip^ yip^ yip^ 

 yip and says that a bird in pursuit of a horned owl "shouted Ricky ^ 

 ticky^ ticky, ticky^ ticky^ with an animation which was both thrilling 

 and terrifying." 



Field marks. — The sharp-shinned hawk may be recognized as an 

 Accipiter by its rather short, rounded wings and long tail, or by its 

 manner of flight, usually rather low, with a series of flappings alter- 

 nating with rapid sailings. It is much smaller than a Cooper's 

 hawk, but a large female sharpshin is nearly as large as a small male 

 Cooper's. The sharpshin's tail is square, or nearly so, whereas the 

 Cooper's is decidedly rounded; Cooper's hawk also has a black cap, 

 which is not pronounced in the sharpshin. It is quite different in 

 shape and in flight from the small falcons. 



Enemies. — Hawks have no enemies of consequence except man, 

 mainly the poultry farmer and the sportsman. The former destroys 

 the nests and kills the birds whenever possible; the latter conducts 

 hawk-shooting campaigns with deadly effect. Once I found a sharp- 

 shinned hawk's nest, which I had been watching, knocked down, the 

 eggs broken, and the decapitated bodies of both parents lying on 

 the ground; their heads had been used to collect the bounty. 

 Hundreds are shot on their fall migrations for sport or because the}^ 

 are considered to be harmful vermin. Dr. George M. Sutton (1928) 

 says that in Pennsylvania on one day in October, "several gunners" 

 killed "in a remarkably short time" 90 sharpshins, 16 goshawks, 11 

 Cooper's hawks, 32 redtails, and 2 duck hawks. Dr. Witmer Stone 

 (1922) says that sharp-shinned hawks are regarded as game birds at 

 Cape May, N. J. ; "in one week in September 1920 no less than 1,400 

 were known to have been killed, one man securing sixty." 



Fall. — Sharp-shinned hawks begin to drift southward through 

 New England during the latter half of August, the heaviest flight 

 coming in September. According to F. S. Hersey's notes the migra- 

 tion was still in progress at Cape Ray, Newfoundland, on September 



