194 BULLETIN 167, UNITED STATES NATIONAL, MUSEUM 



mate is sitting. We know this to be a fact in the case of a pair with 

 which we had an acquaintanceship over a period of years. For on 

 a moonlight night we climbed the tree when the nest was in use by 

 the birds, and one of the hawks flushed from its perch on a limb 

 close by the nest, the other from the nest itself. Both birds slipped 

 away as noiselessly as shadows." 



Red-shouldered hawks make good pets, but they must not be taken 

 too young ; it is difficult to get proper food for them, and if fed on a 

 pure meat diet when young they are likely to develop rickets and 

 die; they should not be taken until they are nearly grown and well 

 feathered. Dr. Louis B. Bishop (1901) has published an interesting 

 note on this subject, and Mr. Kennard (1894b) has related his expe- 

 rience. I once had a beautiful adult, that had been wing-broken, 

 in my aviary; it became very tame and gentle and seemed to know 

 me ; when I entered its cage it would fly up to me and take food out 

 of my hand. Its favorite, and perfectly natural, food consisted of 

 bird bodies, English sparrows, and mice, with an occasional red 

 squirrel or frog. It came to a tragic end, as a great horned owl 

 that I had in the next cage broke in, killed it, and partially ate it. 

 Mr. Shelley tells me of an immature bird that was captured and 

 confined in a large packing box : 



Thereafter its fierceness grew apace ; it became more than willing to fight 

 in distrust some of its visitors, particularly those in the household where it 

 was held a captive, yet to others was calm and made no overtures of hatred 

 or unfriendliness. To those of whom it was a captive, never did it show but 

 the keenest of distrust, even though they fed it. My eldest brother, having a 

 broken wrist at this time and being somewhat of a sportsman with leisure 

 time to spend, shot squirrels for the hawk as a dietetic change from poultry. 

 The bird came to know his voice, and expectancy showed in its eyes when my 

 brother came near, prompted, no doubt, by its desire for its natural food. 



Voice. — During the breeding season the red-shouldered are the 

 noisiest of our hawks. Their characteristic note is a loud, shrill 

 scream, similar to one of the notes of the blue jay, but different in 

 quality. It sounds like kee-aah or kee-ooiv, the first syllable on a 

 higher key and strongly emphasized, the second dropping off in 

 pitch and prolonged. This call is usually repeated rapidly from two 

 to four times ; but I once saw a bird sit in a tree, watching me, and 

 give four series of calls, repeating this note from 18 to 21 times in 

 each series. On two or tliree occasions I have heard and seen the 

 red-shouldered hawk give a long, plaintive call, all on one key, much 

 like the well-known note of the broad-winged hawk, ke-wee-e-e-e, but 

 on a lower key and not so prolonged, with the accent on the second 

 syllable. Ora W. Knight (1908) says he has "heard the birds utter 

 a scolding cac, cac, cac^\ which I have always attributed to the 

 Cooper's hawk. 



