THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 33 
thought, protruding its sharp talons, and thrusting them into the 
back of the devoted bird, while it was endeavoring to elude 
the harassing attacks of another, by hopping and twisting around the 
tree. Then down to the ground assailants and assailed would 
fall, the woodpecker still offering great resistance, until a second 
hawk would also seize upon it, and, with claws deeply thrust into 
its vitals, put an end to its life, when both the marauders would 
at once commence their repast.” 
Nuttall informs us that “ descending furiously and blindly 
upon its quarry, a young hawk of this species broke through 
the glass of the greenhouse at the Cambridge Botanic 
Garden ; and, fearlessly passing through a second glass par- 
tition, he was only brought up by the third, and caught, 
though little stunned by the effort. His wing-feathers were 
much torn by the glass, and his flight in this way so 
impeded as to allow of his being approached.” 
Whilst travelling to some point at a considerable distance, 
the Sharp-shinned Hawk flies high, though in a desultory 
manner, with irregular quick flappings of its wings; and at 
times, as if to pause for a while and examine the objects 
below, moves in short and unequal circles, after which it is 
seen to descend rapidly, and then follow its course at the 
height of only a few feet from the ground, visiting, as it 
were, every clump of low bushes or brier patches likely to 
be inhabited by the smaller birds, on which it principally 
feeds. Again, after having satisfied its hunger, it at times 
rises to a great height, and indeed now and then is scarcely 
discernible from the ground. 
Notwithstanding the comparative abundance of this spe- 
cies, its nest, until quite recently, has been quite rarely 
found. Audubon met with but three, and neither Wilson 
nor Nuttall ever saw one. I have been so fortunate as to 
find several, two of which had in each four eggs. They 
were built in the forks of pine-trees, about twenty-five feet 
from the ground: they were loosely constructed of sticks 
and twigs, were not much hollowed, and were lined with 
3 
