MARSH HAWK b\) 



and pugnacious defender of its home territory, as everyone knows 

 who has ever attempted to invade its precincts. Especially Avhen 

 there are young in the nest, or even after the young are on the 

 wing, one or both parents are sure to attack the intruder. Some 

 say that the male is the more aggressive, but I have seen very little 

 difference. I have had them dash at my head repeatedly, and keep 

 it up as long as I was anywhere near the nest; flying off for a 

 short distance, the hawk would turn and come like a flash straight 

 for my face, as if it would surely strike me; but it always just 

 missed me by a few inches. A. D. DuBois writes me: "While I 

 stood near a nest, trying to arrange a tripod and camera, the parent 

 marsh hawk repeatedly struck me on the head. In one of these 

 onslaughts she lifted my hat and dropped it on the ground. Her 

 claws penetrated the hat sufficiently to scratch the scalp." 



Mr. Saunders (1913) had a marsh hawk attack him frequently 

 when he was a long way from the nest and often not headed in 

 that direction, once when he was a mile away from it. Mrs. Bailey 

 (1915) had similar experiences. Elon H. Eaton (1910) had the 

 bellov/s of his camera, which he had concealed near the nest, torn 

 to pieces by the attacking hawk. Paul L. Errington (1930) gives 

 an interesting account of the territory disputes of three pairs that 

 nested within 400 yards of each other; each pair had its definitely 

 outlined territory, on which none of the others were allowed to 

 trespass. 



No less intolerant is their behavior toward other species. They 

 liave been seen repeatedly attacking red-tailed and red-shouldered 

 hawks that were peacefully soaring over their domains. They al- 

 ways drive away crows and have been known to attack and drive 

 away eagles. They often drive awaj^ sparrow hawks, blackbirds, 

 and other small birds without attempting to catch them. Walter 

 B. Savary writes to me that he "saw a marsh hawk with a mouse 

 in its claws trying to escape from three crows that were pursuing 

 it in an endeavor to get the mouse. So close at last were the crows 

 that the hawk let its prey dro]";; without checking its flight, the 

 leading crow snatched up the mouse and continued on, to be at once 

 followed by a caracara, which, in turn, forced the crow to drop its 

 prize. This happened so near me that the hawk dared not to pick 

 up the mouse, but perched on a nearby stub and waited." 



Even the bold and dashing duck hawk is sometimes robbed of 

 its prey, but sometimes the tables are turned. Forbush (1927) re- 

 lates a story, told him by William G. Means, of a duck hawk that 

 knocked a marsh hawk off a fallen duck it was eating. On the 

 other hand, C. J. Maynard (1896) writes: "The Marsh Hawks are, 

 as a rule, not very bold but I once knew an exception to this and, 



83561—37 7 



