WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



compels them to relinquish to him. The golden 

 eagle, covering the landscape with keen and com- 

 prehensive glance as he sweeps over in vast cir- 

 cuits, swoops upon hares, foxes, and the like, 

 sometimes even picking up an early lamb, or catch- 

 ing a grouse before it can baffle its dreaded pursuer 

 by burying itself in the snow. The buzzard and 

 marsh-hawk sail low over the meadows in slow 

 and easy flight, or stand motionless above some 

 elevated spot in the lowlands, watching intently 

 until a mole or shrew or mouse shows itself below, 

 when they drop upon it like a shot, and carry it 

 off before the poor victim has time to recover from 

 its palsy of terror. Less frequently do these species 

 seem to catch birds, and between Christmas and 

 Easter they lead a very precarious existence. The 

 owls, too, must ''live by their wits,'' but, being 

 nocturnal, they have the advantage of the birds, 

 and, we may be sure, snatch many a tender one 

 rudely from its roost in the open trees, although 

 the dense twigs and sharp needles of the cedars 

 and other close - boughed evergreens must offer 

 such obstacles to the rapid passage of the owl as 

 to allow many an intended victim to escape. The 

 larger species, as the farmer well knows, will often 

 in continued cold weather come into the very barn- 



70 



