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 



