268 WILD WINGS 



"Pine Street" pair were the bold ones. When I climbed 

 to the nest the female would hover close to my face and 

 menace me with her claws, making such a hubbub that 

 once a companion, who was waiting outside the pine swamp 

 in a buggy, thought I must be plucking the hawk ! The 

 " Raynham " pair near Taunton had acquired the happy 

 faculty of laying litters of five a rare gift for the species. 

 And thus the gossip might continue about the affairs of 

 other hawk households. 



Occasionally I have appropriated a young hawk of this 

 or other kinds as a pet. To prevent the infliction of unin- 

 tended cruelty, let me say that young raptorial birds should 

 never be kept in a soft nest, but on something similar to their 

 home nest, which they can grasp with their feet, else their 

 legs will become paralyzed. They require raw meat, but 

 clear, soft butcher's meat alone, lacking lime, will eventually 

 cause rickets. In the natural state they eat their prey in 

 junks, bones, and fur or feathers included, which indi- 

 cates the proper diet. 



By the end of the first week in May, in New England, 

 another group of hawks have completed their layings, and we 

 must start out afresh to observe the Marsh Hawk, Cooper's 

 Hawk, and the Osprey, in their respective haunts. Hardest 

 of all the hawks to locate is the Marsh Hawk, because it 

 nests on the ground in tangled swamps, protected by thick- 

 ets, weeds, or briars. The swamp tracts in southern Massa- 

 chusetts are so dense and interminable that, though I knew 

 of various pairs of Marsh Hawks, after many vain endeavors 

 I almost despaired of finding a nest. But at last a hunter 

 told me of a larch swamp near Precinct Station, Lakeville, 

 where a pair had bred for years. The swamp, though very 

 wet and dense, was only a quarter of a mile in diameter, in 

 a hollow between hills, and there was a chance of being able 



