lo Bird -Lore 



triumphant screech he bounded to the very roof, and descending, struck the 

 mouse from my hand with his talons. His instinct also taught him to take his 

 prey to cover and to hover over it with outspread wings, sometimes flapping 

 them or quivering them as he gazed with delight at his coming meal. He 

 greatly preferred to have no spectators at this ceremony and generally, when 

 strangers were about, he would utterly refuse to eat but would instead stand 

 with the food covered and scold incessantly for them to depart. 



His first frog which he took at a flash, disturbed him considerably by its 

 spasmodic jerkings, and it was a long time before he felt assured of its being a 

 safe thing to swallow; but, after his first taste, he recognized as an epicure 

 that frog's legs are one of the greatest delicacies. A snake he viewed with much 

 suspicion, standing back and looking it over as if it were abhorrent. Finally 

 he gathered himself together and sprang upon it with both feet, but, as he felt 

 the squirming motion, as quickly sprang back. This was repeated till finally 

 he tore it apart in small pieces which he quickly swallowed. Not so with mice, 

 which he gulped down whole, sometimes taking five at a meal. Be it said, how- 

 ever, that the fiJth one went down hard. He would look at me with an expres- 

 sion of dread, actually, as if "I cannot waste it — can I eat it?" Then, nipping 

 its skin, he would toss the creature toward me, then jump for it, again giving 

 it a careful survey. After long deliberation he would turn his back on me as if 

 fairly ashamed and work it down his already crowded throat. 



Grasshoppers he took at first sight; crickets, which were often in his shed, 

 he would watch interestedly, but never touch. At one time we put angle worms 

 in a squirming mass before him. He struck them with his talons, fiercely recoil- 

 ing with quivering wings and flashing eyes, and screaming with anger that he 

 should thus be affronted. 



One of the strange things to me was that he seemed to want no water. The 

 dish which I filled for him, hoping he might bathe as well as drink, seemed to 

 remain untouched. After putting it before him I would watch through a crack 

 to see what happened. He would crane his head to examine it, sometimes just 

 putting the point of his bill in the water, but invariably shaking it off. Toward 

 the last of the first summer I ceased to put water before him, finding the amount 

 I had put before him undiminished and therefore deciding that the juicy meat 

 satisfied his needs. It was not till his second summer that he manifested a real 

 desire for water. It had been an unusually hot day and Johnny drooped, but he 

 also teased as if I had not fed him. He was always most fascinating at such 

 times, turning his pretty head in almost a complete circle, hopping nearer and 

 nearer to me till he could pull at my dress. Naturally I thought that water 

 would meet his needs on such a day so I put before him a large panful. Before 

 I had time to step back he had hurled himself into the pan. Sitting down on his 

 tail, he kicked out with his feet in every direction and he did not cease till he was 

 wet to his skin and was certainly the strangest looking Hawk I ever beheld. 

 Then he began to drink and I felt quite sure he would kill himself, but after a 



