HAWKING 237 



favorable conditions. Its scream is a familiar 

 one, as it is frequently imitated by the blue jay, 

 while the red-tailed hawk's scream is strongly 

 suggestive of the sound of escaping steam. 



The rough-legged hawk comes to us in winter 

 from Labrador. He is a magnificent bird, and, 

 in his dark phase, is as black as a crow and as de- 

 void of markings. In the light phase he has a 

 white rump or base of the tail and often a black 

 band across the lower chest. The flight of the 

 rough-leg is graceful and indicative of skill and 

 power. On motionless wings, if the wind be 

 favorable, he often soars high in the blue vault 

 of the sky, a picture long to be treasured. The 

 wings and tail are extended to the full, the first 

 half-dozen quills spread out separately and curved 

 upwards at their tips from the air pressure. 



Sometimes, when not too high, the bird may 

 be seen to look down, to lower its long feathered 

 legs from under the tail, where all hawks carr) 

 them in flight, to partially close its wings, and to 

 drop like a plummet on the prey, which its keen 

 vision has singled out. After one of these de- 

 scents the bird I was watching flew ofF with a 



