144 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



manner. Such natural objects have suggested the " wa- 

 tered " figures or colors in the arts. Few mortals ever look 

 down on the tail-coverts of a young hen-hawk, yet these 

 are not only beautiful, but of a peculiar beauty, being 



differently marked and colored (to judge from Wilson's 

 account of the old) from those of the old bird. Thus she 

 finishes her works above men's sight. 



Jan. 12, 1859. Farmer says that he saw what he calls 

 the common hen-hawk, one soaring high with apj^arently 

 a chicken in its claws, while a young hawk circled be- 

 neath, when former suddenly let drop the chicken, but 

 the young failing to catch, he shot down like lightning 

 and caught and bore off the falling chicken before it 

 reached the earth. 



Fch. 16, 1859. The hen-hawk and the pine are friends. 

 The same thing which keeps the hen-hawk in the woods, 

 away from the cities, keeps me here. That bird settles 

 with confidence on a white pine top and not upon your 

 weathercock. That bird will not be poultry of yours, 

 lays no eggs for you, forever hides its nest. Though 

 willed, or wild., it is not willful in its wildness. The un- 



