SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 105 



C. L. Broley and I witnessed a sharp-shinned liawk attack a prairie falcon 

 at West Shoal Lake, Manitoba. The prairie falcon had just left off amusing 

 itself by swooping at a juvenile marsh hawk, pretending to attack it, and 

 was flying high over a field near the lake when the sharpshiu quickly mounted 

 into the sky and attacked the prairie falcon as a kingbird does a crow, swoop- 

 ing down in fierce plunges until the falcon turned and fled the way it had 

 come, giving us an excellent view of the little battler. The sharpshiu com- 

 pletely outmaneuvered the falcon, mounting above it time after time, and 

 dashing down on its back, apparently deliveriug blows which were at least 

 irritating, as the prairie falcon repeatedly tried to strike sideways at its 

 spunky tormentor. 



Dr. J. M. Wheaton (1882) tells the following interesting story: 



I once saw an adult bird of this species pounce upon a Meadowlark, quietly 

 feeding upon the ground. By some means the attack was only partly success- 

 ful, and the Lark hopped about for a few moments with the Hawk upon his 

 back. The ridiculousness of his position seemed to disconcert the Hawk, 

 who relaxed his grip, only to find himself attacked by bill and claws of his 

 victim. Then followed a fierce fight with claws, bills and wings, in which both 

 contestants appeared equally active and determined. Finally the combatants 

 separated, the Hawk flying in one direction disappointed, dejected and dis- 

 gusted, the Lark in another, recovering his breath by extraordinary cries of 

 alarm and distress. 



Hostility toward the human invader at its nest is also VN'ell marked. 

 The individual variation in the behavior at the nest has been re- 

 ferred to above, based on the author's experience. W. J. Brown 

 relates, in his notes, his experience with a pair of these hawks, whose 

 nests he found for four successive years; the male was never seen 

 or heard; and the female always slipped off the nest in silence and 

 made no demonstration. Usually these hawks are quite demonstra- 

 tive; both birds often start their shrill, cackling notes as soon as 

 the intruder approaches the tree; and when he starts to climb to 

 the nest they become very aggressive, darting down at him, dash- 

 ing through the branches of the tree and threatening to strike him, 

 all the while keeping up a constant cackling. H. J. Eust (1914) 

 describes the actions of a particularly aggTessive pair, the parents 

 of a brood of young, as follows: 



The old birds were very ferocious, more so than before. The male struck 

 one hard rap between my shoulders while I was examining the young, and 

 the female kept striking so close to my head as to make it very uncomfortable. 

 After descending to the ground I hid near a small fir tree to watch the old 

 birds. The female flew to the nest and kept up a constant call; the male 

 followed close to where I was standing and swooped at my head; shortly 

 afterwards the female made a swoop direct from the nest and just grazed 

 my head. I moved out of the thicket and both birds followed, perching eight 

 or ten feet from me, uttering their shrill cries, and darting at my head at 

 short intervals. I finally started back down hill and stopping fifty yards or 

 more from the thicket looked up just in time to see the male hawk coming 

 straight for me. I waved my hat and he circled and made for a tall tree 

 near the nest, seeming satisfied that he had finally driven me away. 

 83561—37 8 



