Birds of Prey 



377 



Finley & Bohlman 

 FIG. 233. Young golden eagle. 



those hawks were killed 

 which the farmer has seen 

 catching his chickens, no 

 one need complain. The 

 intelligent farmer knows 

 that two species of hawks, 

 the Cooper's hawk and 

 sharp-shinned hawk, de- 

 serve blame for most of the 

 loss of poultry due to hawks. 

 The two are colored alike, 

 but Cooper's hawk is the 

 larger species. 



Male hawks are usually 

 smaller than females. In 

 some species the sexes differ 



in color. Moreover, both change their appearance as 

 they grow older. Few persons are able to identify by 

 color every specimen of hawk that is shot in the neighbor- 

 hood, and fewer still can distinguish the various species 

 when flying. Bounties should not be offered on either 

 hawks or owls, for such bounties cause the death of 

 many valuable birds. 



Other birds of prey. Eagles, kites, and falcons are 

 similar to hawks and related to them. They all have 

 talons for seizing prey and a hooked beak adapted to 

 tearing flesh. Many of them are of large size. The 

 wings of a fish hawk, or osprey, when stretched out 

 measure about 4^ feet from tip to tip ; those of eagles 

 6 or 7 feet; and those of some of the Old World vul- 

 tures, the condor of the Andes, and the California con- 

 dor, all of them birds of prey, more than 9 feet. 



