240 BEACH GRASS 



bird murderers. They are the farmer's enemy. 

 Unlike the peregrine falcon, the accipiters do 

 not strike their prey on the wing a killing stroke 

 with the foot and then return to pick them up, 

 but they pounce upon them as a rule on the ground 

 or a perch, and, thrusting their talons deep, 

 "truss" them in the language of falconry and 

 crush out their life. 



There are three other hawks that may be seen 

 in northeastern America — the marsh hawk the 

 bald eagle and the fish hawk or osprey. 



The marsh hawk is our commonest hawk and is 

 often to be seen flying over marsh or dune or up- 

 land pasture. He is a harrier like the English 

 harrier and carefully quarters the ground, flying 

 and sailing back and forth within a few yards of it 

 in his search for mice and other small vermin. 

 It must be confessed that he occasionally captures 

 a bird and that some individuals are notorious 

 offenders in that direction, but the species as a 

 whole is one of the farmer's friends. His habit 

 of flight, his long wings and tail and, most marked 

 of all, his snow-white rump makes recognition 

 easy. The only other hawk with a white rump 



