156 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Frederick. 



Frederick was a tame Red shouldered 

 Hawk. One day while working near a 

 swamp I saw a large nest placed in the 

 crotch of a cypress tree. The tree was 

 large' and the nest was so high I did not 

 climb to it. 



Sometime afterward I passed by that 

 way and to my delight saw a hawk 

 leave the nest. As it was too late for 

 eggs I went home to get an ax to cut 

 down the tree. Soon the towering 

 branches were kneeling to the ground, 

 and as I rushed to the crotch where the 

 nest was placed, my eyes suddenly be- 

 held the downy form of a young hawk. 

 With delight I picked it up and then 

 began to search for another which I 

 found half crushed to death by the 

 limbs of the tree. 



Taking the two hawks I started for 

 home. On reaching home I placed the 

 two young birds in a box and went for 

 something to satisfy their appetites, 

 and returned with some meat, but they 

 would not eat it. 



In a few days the one that had been 

 wounded by the tree, died and left the 

 comrade to enjoy life as best it could. 



Frederick grew very fast and in a 

 few weeks began to walk around and 

 to try to fly. One morning I threw 

 him in the air a few feet, and to my 

 surprise he flew to the fence fifty yards 

 away. 



After that he went where he chose 

 and did pretty much as he pleased. 

 His favorite resting place was a small 

 elm in the yard, and when hungry 

 would go there to be fed. 



He would eat any kind of small rep- 

 tile, animal, or insects, and especially 

 was he fond of mice and frogs. 



As he grew older he begun to show 

 signs of fight, and would sometimes 

 attack a woman or girl, but never did 

 he try to fight me, he would alight on 

 my head and shoulders at times and 

 utter his plaintive notes when hungry. 



Frederick bad grown to be quite a 

 large hawk when one day he attacked a 

 cat and drove him from the yard, as 

 the cat was on the fence Frederick 

 fastened his talons in the cat's back, 

 and the cat sent up a waul that seemed 

 to frighten his pugnacious neighbor. 

 The hawk let go his hold and the cat 

 made for the barn as fast as his 

 feet could carry him, after that the cat 

 kept well out of Frederick's way. 



While walking in the field one day 

 I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk high in 

 the air, as I watched him fly round in 

 broad graceful arches it dawned on my 

 mind that it might be Frederick. I did 

 not have to wait long before he darted 

 swiftly downward and alighted on a 

 pile of brush not twenty feet from 

 where I stood. "Frederick" I called 

 and his answer came back as clear as if 

 to say, "Here I am." 



One morning a few days later ended 

 his career. It was in July that he was 

 shot in the act of catching chickens, 

 but not by the writer. 



R. P. Smithwick, 



North Carolina. 



"The Bath." 



One of the most essential things in a 

 pigeon loft is a good large bath pan. 

 One about eighteen inches wide and 

 twenty-four inches long makes a very 

 convenient size. Of course if you have 

 a great many birds, ic would be besi to 

 have two pans. 



Every morning the pan should be 

 thoroughly cleaned and fresh water put 

 in As soon as the bath is over, or 

 rather the birds get through i>athiug, 

 the pan should he removed to prevent 

 the birds drinking the water. Never 

 let the birds drink and bathe from the 

 same pan, a drinking fountain can be 

 purchased at little cost at any pottery. 



It is astonishing how much dirt is 

 removed by a single bath. You can 

 put your water in as clear as a crystal, 

 and when the bath is over, the water 

 that is left is of a milky whiteness, and 

 the surface of it covered with dust from 

 their bodies. This all goes to show the 

 necessity of the bath. If you will allow 

 your birds the free use of the water, 

 you will find that y<m will have no 

 trouble with lice, and the birds will be 

 healthy and always in true feather. 



By F. M Simmons, Jb. 



