268 
WILD WINGS 
“Pine Street” pair were the bold ones. When I climbed 
to the nest the female would hover close to my face and 
menace me with her claws, making such a hubbub that 
once a companion, who was waiting outside the pine swamp 
in a buggy, thought I must be plucking the hawk! The 
“ Raynham ” pair near Taunton had acquired the haj^jyv 
faculty of laying litters of hve — a rare gift for the species. 
And thus the gossip might continue about the affairs of 
other hawk households. 
Occasionally I have appropriated a young hawk — of this 
or other kinds — as a pet. To prevent the infliction of unin¬ 
tended cruelty, let me say that young raptorial birds should 
never be kept in a soft nest, but on something similar to their 
home nest, which they can grasp with their feet, else their 
legs will become paralyzed. They require raw meat, but 
clear, soft butcher’s meat alone, lacking lime, will eventually 
cause rickets. In the natural state they eat their prey in 
junks, — bones, and fur or feathers included,—which indi¬ 
cates the proper diet. 
By the end of the first week in May, in New England, 
another group of hawks have completed their layings, and we 
must start out afresh to observe the Marsh Hawk, Cooper’s 
Hawk, and the Osprey, in their respective haunts. Hardest 
of all the hawks to locate is the Marsh Hawk, because it 
nests on the ground in tangled swamps, protected by thick¬ 
ets, weeds, or briars. The swamp tracts in southern Massa¬ 
chusetts are so dense and interminable that, though I knew 
of various pairs of Marsh Hawks, after many vain endeavors 
I almost despaired of finding a nest. But at last a hunter 
told me of a larch swamp near Precinct Station, Lakeville, 
where a pair had bred for years. The swamp, though very 
wet and dense, was only a quarter of a mile in diameter, in 
a hollow between hills, and there was a chance of being able 
