POAETQUISSINGS IN WINTER. 26 



to most of them ; and I could not but comment on the 

 unreasonableness of the farmers who so relentlessly per- 

 secute hawks. Here, for weeks, these birds had poultry 

 in abundance in full view, yet I doubt if a single pullet 

 was destroyed ; and I do know that these same hawks 

 were busy, while daylight lasted, in capturing the mice, 

 creatures many fold more destructive to grass and grain 

 than all the hawks in New Jersey are to poultry. Even 

 when the snow was too deep to enable them to find mice, 

 I saw no evidence that the poultry was molested. The 

 thousands of snow-birds supplied the hawks, at such 

 times, with all needed food. 



I will not discuss the matter at this time, but venture 

 to dogmatically assert that all birds are useful, includ- 

 ing the owls, hawks, and crows. Even if they were 

 not, I would be willing to share the expense with my 

 neighbors, and pay in poultry, in the case of the hawks, 

 for the satisfaction of watching them soaring in wide 

 circles over the meadows ; of hearing their wild cries, 

 that restore to us a bit of the wildness that was once a 

 feature of even these tame lands ; and for the pleasure 

 of puzzling over the mystery of their flight, as with un- 

 moved wings they sail upward, or hover for seconds, 

 motionless as statues. 



The several species of hawks that I mentioned are 

 very different in their dispositions, and merit considera- 

 tion in this respect. I believe I can always recognize 

 the several species by their manner, both when on the 

 wing and when at rest. Not that their methods of flight 

 vary a great deal — they do to some extent — but there 

 are peculiarities which are very uniform. Collectively 



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