HAWKING 239 



hawk, while the largest of all is the goshawk. 

 It is to be remembered that male hawks are 

 smaller, sometimes a third smaller than the 

 females, a fact that is brought out in the lan- 

 guage of falconry where the male hawks are 

 called tiercels^ corrupted to tercels and tassels. 

 A female sharp-shinned hawk may be nearly as 

 large as a male Cooper's hawk. The sha{)e of 

 the ends of the tails in these two hawks is the 

 important point; in the sharp-shinned it is square- 

 cut, in the Cooper's it is rounded like a coop — 

 an easy mnemonic. 



The immature goshawk is larger than a 

 Cooper's hawk but resembles it in form and 

 coloration. The adult goshawk, however, is 

 noticeable by reason of its slaty gray back, black 

 top to the head and black cheek patch, and by 

 the fine barring on the white under parts. 



The accipiters soar at times but their usual 

 and characteristic flight is a succession of flutters 

 and sails, of wing flappings and glidings. They 

 steal along by copse and hedge-row or boldly en- 

 ter the chicken-yard and strike terror wherever 

 they go. They are true chicken hawks and small 



