Aolr.s OH llir liinls. 339 



was about ."0 feet up in a beech tree 'I'licsc (•■i^.s iiic;isurc(l in inches: l.s-j\- 

 i.4;{; i.7()xl.:5(i: l.S2.\l.4:{ ; 1.82x1. «:'.: i.n::n1.4::. 



Ill MoHi'oe Cduuly. tills bawlc did ikiI ••ipiicai- In lie cniiininii. hiil il was 

 ddubtless a suiiiiiier resident. 



TS. BiTKO HOUEAi-is noRKAi.is ((Jiiieliii). HKnrAiiKi) HAWK. ( :!.".T ) 



111 my boyhood days on the farm Just soiilli <d' I'.uilin^rtdii. <iiic of llie 

 most interesting .sights to be observed in spriim. siiinmcr. and early tail was 

 tliat of hawks sailing higli in air. < »ii (nir farm, m- t bnse adjacent, were 

 usually several pairs. While most of them were Ked-tails, some were 

 douhth>ss tlie Ked-sli(ml<lered Hawk. Their nesis were in tlie tops of the 

 tallest oaks, or oceasionally in a beech, elm. tulip, or sycamore. ( )n (|uiet. 

 warm days, particularly in spring, a harsh piercing scream would he heard 

 overhead, and. on looking up, sometimes one. hut usually two. of these 

 gr(>at birds would be seen sailing high in the air or chasing eacii other, 

 the while rising higher and higher in more or less sitiral curves and utter- 

 ing their shrill cry. This cry would nsuiilly be uttered as one of the |,;iir 

 passed the other. Sometimes one. having risen some distance above the 

 other, would swoop down iipon it with a scream that could he heard a long 

 ways: one of the interesting characteristics of these hawks is the w(iii<lerful 

 carrying iwwer of their cry. Sometim(>s the birds would continue circling 

 higher and higher, first one above, then the other, until they could be seen 

 only with difficulty, but the sci'eaming could be distinctly heard, however 

 high the birds might be. Sometimes, after attaining a considerable height, 

 llie.v would cease screaming and simply soar. After reiiching a great height 

 they would suddenly descend with jiartly-closed wings like an arrow to 

 the top of the forest in Avhich their nest might be found. Sometimes they 

 would again ascend; frequently they woulil alight in one of the tallest 

 trees. My recollection is that these flights were most frequent on <iuiet 

 jifternoons. but they might occur at any time, especially between eight and 

 nine o'clock in the morning and four and five o'clock in the afternoon. 

 While these flights were most freiiuent in the spring (probably during the 

 nesting season), they might o<-cur at any time from early in the .spring 

 until late in the fall. 



Another common and familiar sight wfls that of one of these hawks sit- 

 ting quietly on a dead limb of some old tree at the edge of a field or on a 

 fence stake, waiting for some field mouse, rabbit or other small mammal 

 which it might capture. The length of time a hawk would thus remain on 

 watch is remarkable. I have no definite notes on the matter hut I believe 

 it within the truth to say that it was often more than an hour. 



The Ked-tail Hawk is still common in each of the three counties with 

 which this paper is concerned. Records from Carroll County are: l>eceniber 

 .!!. 1S7S, one found dead near Burlington : March 1. IST'.K one seen : March ."», 

 two seen. April 1~>. LSSM, nest with three .voung about four days old, in top 

 of a large white oak a short distance southwest of my father's house. 

 »^>uite common in the winter of l.SS.'l-4 : January 2S and .".1. and February T.>. 

 1SS4: and February 20 and March 12 to 14. Iss.-,. I Imve seen yoiuig in 

 the iH'st. April 1.",. iss.-,. 



