THE ROBBERS OF THE FALLS 



had been in pursuit of it and the poor bird had dived 

 headlong into the snow to escape its fury. The hawk 

 had then alighted on the fence and waited for it to 

 come out. As I write this, he looks down on me re- 

 proachfully with glass eyes from the top of my case. 

 Ah, you rascal, you will kill no more grouse! Yet, 

 after all, who has a better right? I am not so sure that 

 we, out of our luxurious abundance, had better make 

 the claim. 



Ned and I are so fond of hunting hawks with the 

 camera and studying these bold, breezy people of the 

 forest, that we fairly mourn to see them exterminated. 

 Of course we do not blame those for killing them whose 

 property they devastate, yet we wish that people would 

 in justice discriminate between the pestiferous and the 

 harmless or useful kinds, and cultivate enough of the 

 modern "outdoor" spirit to make them enjoy seeing 

 wild life in nature and get away from the ignorant, 

 worn-out notion that the only good hawk is a dead 

 one. 



The Biological Survey, of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture has shown that only the Accipitrine hawks 

 Cooper's, Sharp-shin, and Goshawk are injurious. 

 The so-called "Hen Hawks" only occasionally attack 

 poultry, especially in the winter, when driven to it by 

 starvation, but by killing the smaller varmints and 

 insects do more good than harm. Now and then an 

 individual, like the tiger, acquires a taste for the wrong 

 sort of meat, and may properly be suppressed. So, 



55 



