52 BY-WAYS AND BIRD-NOTES. 
midst of that apparently flat wash of drab neu- 
tral. 
That hawks and owls have powerful and 
far-seeing eyes cannot be doubted; but they 
either lack a fine power of discrimination in 
vision, or this adaptation of the colors and 
markings of birds to their surroundings is 
very effectual, else these birds of prey exhibit 
a wonderful forbearance toward their natural 
victims during the season of incubation. I 
am inclined to the opinion that hawks are 
what might be called “far-sighted,” and that 
their vision at very short distances is not very 
clear. I once saw a goshawk pursuing a 
downy woodpecker, when the latter darted 
through a tuft of foliage and flattened itself 
close upon the body of a thick oak bough, 
where it remained as motionless as the bark 
itself. The hawk alighted on the same bough 
within two feet of its intended victim, and re- 
mained sitting there for some minutes, evi- 
dently looking in vain for it, with nothing but 
thin air between monster and morsel. The 
woodpecker was stretched longitudinally on 
the bough, its tail and beak close to the bark, 
its black and white speckled feathers looking 
like a continuation of the wrinkles and lichen. 
No doubt those were moments of awful sus- 
pense for the little fellow; but its ruse suc- 
ceeded, and the hawk flew away to try some 
other tidbit. If the woodpecker had stopped 
amongst the green leaves, the hawk would 
have discovered it instantly. 
I have noticed that the cardinal-grosbeak and 
the blue-jay are more often killed by hawks 
than are the other common birds of our woods; 
and I attribute the fact to their brilliant plu- 
