14 STORIES OF BIRD LIFE 



but find them they do, and in great numbers as well. Woe 

 to the luckless grasshopper that lives in a field over which 

 a sparrow hawk keeps watch ! 



The hard in- 

 digestible parts 

 of the insects are 

 disgorged in 

 balls the size of 



small marbles, and may be found about their roost- 

 ing places. Like an owl, the sparrow hawk eats its 

 prey, and afterward at leisure picks out and discards the 

 objectionable parts. 



Unlike many other birds Dick and his mate associated 

 together throughout the year. They roosted under the 

 eaves of a public school building standing within the 

 border of their domain. The male was ever distrustful of 

 a man and knew to a nicety the range of a gun, for he 

 always left his perch before an effective shooting distance 

 was reached. 



The female was very trustful. Would that she had 

 known better the heart of man ! One day a boy stealthily 

 approached to within a few yards of where she sat and 

 suddenly throwing a heavy stick, struck her to the ground. 

 He quickly beat her into unconsciousness and after a look 

 at her feathers threw her body down beside the path. 



