32 GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 



When the water fowl perceive the approach of their enemy, 

 a universal alarm pervades their ranks; even man himself, with 

 his engine of destruction, is not more terrible. But the effect 

 is different. When the latter is beheld, the whole atmosphere 

 is enlivened with the whistling of wings; when the former is 

 recognised, not a duck is to be seen in the air: they all speed 

 to the water, and there remain until the hawk has passed them, 

 diving the moment he comes near them. It is worthy of re- 

 mark, that he will seldom, if ever, strike over the water, un- 

 less it be frozen; well knowing that it will be difficult to secure 

 his quarry. This is something more than instinct. 



When the sportsmen perceive the hawk knock down a duck, 

 they frequently disappoint him of it, by being first to secure it. 

 And as one evil turn, according to the maxim of the multitude, 

 deserves another, our hero takes ample revenge on them, at 

 every opportunity, by robbing them of their game, the hard- 

 earned fruits of their labour. 



The Duck Hawk, it is said, often follows the steps of the 

 shooter, knowing that the ducks will be aroused on the wing, 

 which will afford it an almost certain chance of success. 



We have been informed that those ducks which are struck 

 down, have their backs lacerated from the rump to the neck. 

 If this be the fact, it is a proof that the hawk employs only its 

 talons, which are long and stout, in the operation. One re- 

 spectable inhabitant of Cape May told us, that he had seen the 

 hawk strike from below. 



This species has been long known in Europe; and, in the 

 age of Falconry, was greatly valued for those qualifications, 

 which rendered it estimable to the lovers and followers of that 

 princely amusement. But we have strong objections to its spe- 

 cific appellation. The epithet peregrine is certainly not appli- 

 cable to our hawk, which is not migratory, as far as our most 

 diligent inquiries can ascertain; and as additional evidence of 

 the fact, we ourselves have seen it prowling near the coast of 

 New Jersey, in the month of May, and heard its screams, 

 which resemble somewhat those of the Bald Eagle, in the 



