20 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



states, but in those localities it is the most abundant of 

 the birds of prey. I can add but little to Wilson's descrip- 

 tion that will be of interest: it is as follows : 



" The habits and manners of this bird are well known. It flies 

 rather irregularly, occasionally suspending itself in the air, hover- 

 big over a particular spot for a minute or two, and then shooting 

 off in another direction. It perches on the top of a dead tree or 

 pole, in the middle of a field or meadow, and, as it alights, shuts its 

 long wings so suddenly that they seem instantly to disappear: it 

 sits here in an almost perpendicular position, sometimes for an hour 

 at a time, frequently jerking its tail, and reconnoitring the ground 

 below, in every direction, for mice, lizards, &c. It approaches the 

 farmhouse, particularly in the morning, skulking about the barn- 

 yard for mice or young chickens. It frequently plunges into 

 a thicket after small birds, as if by random, but always with a 

 particular, and generally a fatal aim. One day I observed a bird 

 of this species perched on the highest top of a large poplar, on 

 the skirN of the wood, and was in the act of raising the gun to 

 my eye, ^hen he swept down, with the rapidity of an arrow, into a 

 thicket of briers, about thirty yards off, where I shot him dead, 

 and, on coming up, found a small field-sparrow quivering in his 

 grasp. Both our aims had been taken in the same instant ; and, 

 unfortunately for him, both were fatal. It is particularly fond of 

 watching along hedge-rows and in orchards, where small birds 

 usually resort. When grasshoppers are plenty, they form a con- 

 siderable part of its food. 



