404 



THE RED-TAILED HAWK. 



twilight, while the Red-tail is most active during bright days. But if you 

 would know the Red-tail certainly you must learn to notice the uniformly 

 colored tail. There may be one dark band near the tip, but the rest of the tail 

 will be some shade of rufous or brown, without bands of any color. One 

 also soon learns to see a certain majestic movement in the soaring flight, 

 a more dignified wing stroke, and withal, a certain appearance of strength 

 and power not manifest among the smaller hawks, particularly the smaller 

 Red-shouldered. 



In spite of the fact that this 

 bird sometimes visits the poultry- 

 yard, and may feast daintily upon 

 sparrow or pigeon, I cannot help 

 admiring him. His sagacity is 

 shown in the selection of a nesting 

 site, which is the taller and less 

 easily accessible trees, and in his 

 habit of showing himself as little 

 as possible in the vicinity of his 

 nest, except high above it. To 

 the initiated the \vhereabouts of 

 that carefully arranged bundle of 

 sticks may be guessed from the 

 manner in which the high-soaring 

 bird behaves. Unless the nest is 

 actually threatened there is no 

 demonstration of hostility, but a 

 dignified, watchful indifference 

 to an unwarranted meddling with 

 private affairs. But once threaten 

 the nest and the speck in the upper 

 air descends like a bolt out of a 

 clear sky, swerving aside just at 

 the point of contact and sweeping 

 upward again for a renewed at- 

 tack. Even the fiercest birds will 

 not actually strike the human intruder, much as he may deserve punishment, 

 but the angry scream and the booming air beneath the half-closed wings, try 

 the nerves of the bravest, while he is perched in the lofty tree-tops. 



Much abuse has been heaped upon this bird's head, the most of it unwar- 

 ranted. Careful study has proved that chickens are molested only when 

 other food is unobtainable. And when birds have been killed in the act of 

 raiding the poultry-yard they have been young birds, for the most part. On 



Telephoto 



6 By the Author 



A RED-TAII/S NEST. 



