174 



THE DESTRUCTION OF POULTRY. 



"The Goshawk is one of the most daring and venturesome- 

 of any of our diurnal birds of prey. A farmer who resides a 

 few miles from my office, wishing to perpetuate the old New 

 England custom ot having a chicken pie for Thanksgiving 

 dinner, caught some fowls, took them to a log, severed the 

 neck of one, and threw it down beside him. In an instant the 

 Goshawk seized the struggling fowl, and, flying off some ten 

 rods, alighted and commenced devouring his prey. The bold- 

 ness of the attack so astonished the farmer that he looked 

 on with blank amazement. Recovering from his surprise, 

 he hastened into the house and brought out his gun, which 

 secured him both the hawK and the fowl. Another instance 

 of still greater daring occurred near East Windsor Hill, Con- 

 necticut. A Goshawk flew after a fowl near a dwelling house; 

 the door being open, the hen flew inside; the liawk followed, 

 and seized her in 'the room occupied by an old gentleman and 

 his daughter. The old man hastened to the rescue, and struck 

 the hawk with a cane before it released its grasp. The 

 daughter caught the hawk as it attempted to fly out of the 

 door, and killed it." (Amer. Nat. Vol. X, 1876, p. 134.) 



Capt. Charles E. Bendire informed the writer that at Fort 

 Klamath, Oregon, he once shot at a Goshawk and slightly 

 wounded it with fine shot, and in the course of a few minutes 

 it returned and attacked a chicken. Numerous cases are on 

 record where it has flown through windows to attack canaries 

 or other cage birds. 



AN ENEMY OF THE WILD FOWL. 



"In the general character of its flight, as well as the mode 

 of hunting and capturing its prey, it closely resembles 

 Cooper's Hawk, though it frequents the thick woods rather 

 more than the latter bird. In the fall this hawk is common 

 along the smaller water courses where it is very destructive 

 to wild ducks and other water fowl, and is able to strike 

 down a bird as large as a full grown mallard. If its prey is 

 a bird of this size it rarely eats more than the flesh from the 

 breast, leaving the rest of the carcass untouched. Scorning 

 to feed upon carrion, another victim is secured when hunger 

 returns. 



A SUCCESSFUL GROUSE HUNTER. 



"Of the upland game birds the Ptarmigan in the north and 

 the Ruffed Grouse in the middle districts suffer severely 

 from the attacks of this powerful hawk. Dr. William H. 

 Dall, who found it common in the valley of the Yukon river, 

 states that it feeds largely upon the White Ptarmigan, the 

 flocks of which it follows from place to place. E. W. Nelson 

 and L. M. Turner both corroborate its destructiveness among 

 these birds. In some parts of the country the Goshawk hunts 

 the Ruffed Grouse so persistently that it is known by the 

 name of "Partridge Hawk," and this bird probably has no 

 worse enemy except man. As Audubon was passing down the 

 Ohio he observed one of these hawks dive Into a flock of 



