102 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



grown Night Heron that chanced to be abroad by day. The Heron was flying 

 from one island to another across some marshes, when the Hawk darted out 

 of a neighboring wood and pounced upon him. The force of the shock was 

 so great that the slowly moving Heron fell to the ground at once but, for- 

 tunately for him, in falling, he gave vent to one of those discordant sqnarks 

 which only a bird of this species is capable of uttering, and which so aston- 

 ished and frightened the Hawk, that it completely forgot to take advantage 

 of its prostrate px'ey, but darted away; while the Heron regained its feet, 

 shook itself, and mounting in air, flew wildly into the nearest thicket. 



The bill of fare of this hawk also includes a few mice, young 

 rabbits, shrews, bats, frogs, lizards, locusts, grasshoppers, crickets, 

 caterpillars, large moths, butterflies, and beetles. But birds are its 

 principal food, among which the following have been recorded: 

 Doves, woodpeckers, swifts, flycatchers, horned larks, sandpipers, 

 cowbirds, orioles, blackbirds, grackles, jays, meadowlarks, many 

 sparrows, towhees, vireos, many warblers, mockingbirds, thrashers, 

 catbirds, wrens, nuthatches, chickadees, creepers, kinglets, robins, 

 thrushes, and bluebirds. 



Its ordinary method of hunting has been very well described by 

 William Brewster (1925) as follows: 



Its invariable method of attack is to pounce unexpectedly on its victims, 

 after watching for their appearance from an inconspicuous, near by perch, or 

 seeking them by successive gliding flights of no great length, performed low 

 over the ground beneath branches that overspread secluded wood-paths, or 

 across little forest glades, or through brush-encumbered fields or meadows. In- 

 terrupting such level, skimming flight merely by an abrupt turn or drop, and 

 then pausing but for an instant, the hawk may continue on its way bearing 

 in its talons some luckless, fear-stupefied Warbler or Sparrow which has been 

 plucked from twig or turf with truly admirable dexterity. Or it may achieve 

 similar success almost as quickly, but with greater effort, at the end of a short, 

 spirited dash, made at top speed, and perhaps with reckless disregard of stiff 

 intervening branches. 



It is often quite crafty in its approach to a poultry yard, flying 

 low and keeping out of sight behind buildings or fences until it can 

 dash over and down into the yard, seize a small chicken before any- 

 one is aware of its presence, and make off with it in a hurry; the 

 sudden surprise attack is most successful. Col. A. J. Grayson, in 

 some notes published by George N. Lawrence (1874), says: 



One day I witnessed an act of this hawk w'hich goes far to illustrate its 

 habits of pei'severance in hunting out the game it may be in quest of; a brood 

 of half grown chickens was attacked by it, one of which had taken shelter 

 beneath the bottom rail of a fence; there was barely room between the rail 

 and the ground to admit the fowl; the little hawk, after perching for a few 

 moments on the top of the fence, lit upon the ground, and actually reached its 

 slender claws under the rail, dragged the unfortunate chicken from its hiding 

 place, carried it off a hundred yards to the bottom of a dry creek, where I 

 followed it up and recovered the chicken, with which he was unable to rise 

 above the bank of the creek. 



