POAETQUISSINGS IN WINTER. 37 



meditative but deliberate. Like a wise man, it rel- 

 ishes seasonable fun, but permits no nonsense. The 

 crows, quick-witted as they are, have not yet learned 

 this fact, and often suffer, therefore, for want of knowl- 

 edge. Recently I saw excellent evidence of this. A 

 troop of wandering crows came lazily along the creek, 

 just skimming the tree -tops. They discovered the 

 broad -winged hawk that was sitting directly in the 

 course of their flight. With a shrill ka kaw he ke the 

 leader announced the hawk's presence, and the whole 

 troop, twenty or more, halted in their flight. One, 

 more eager or less experienced than the rest, boldly 

 dashed at the hawk, and pecked it, for aught I know. 

 At all events, a second onset was more than the quiet 

 hawk would suffer, and, meeting his boasting, noisy as- 

 sailant in mid -air, he gave it one stroke with his talons 

 and a nip with his beak that sent the impudent crow 

 reeling earthwards, and screaming, I presume for help. 

 The hawk straightway resumed its perch, while the as- 

 tonished crows reversed their tactics and fled in dismay, 

 wholly unmindful of their afllicted companion, which 

 could barely keep itself in the air. 



What I have said of these two hawks may be repeated 

 of the others. Some are quick to suspect danger ; oth- 

 ers are less timid, or, at least, are slower to perceive the 

 approach of a suspicious object. The black hawk, or 

 rough-legged falcon, is, perhaps, of our larger species, 

 the very laziest. It does not even hold up its wings 

 when sitting in the birches, but lets them hang so loose- 

 ly that the bird looks like a wet skin hung out to dry ; 

 nevertheless, it is not often that you catch it napping. 



