BIRDS OF PREY 151 



The poultry-yard affords some episodes in hawk or 

 owl story, but it is unfair to attribute depredations 

 to all kinds of hawks. The Cooper's and sharp- 

 shinned hawks and the great horned owl are the worst 

 transgressors, also the rare goshawk when it is with 

 us. The so-called hen-hawks only occasionally at- 

 tack poultry, generally in winter when other food is 

 scarce. 



Most of the hawks migrate south for the winter, 

 though a few individuals of all kinds sometimes re- 

 main to brave the cold. The red-tail is usually the 

 commonest resident hawk in winter. The owls are 

 somewhat more stationary, though they migrate to 

 some extent, as is shown by the appearance of the 

 snowy and other boreal owls. 



This class of birds may be hard to find and know, 

 yet there is for this very reason a romantic interest 

 attaching to them. To know them well is a mark of 

 a keen, active, successful practical ornithologist. 

 Who then will go out in the forest and the cold and 

 master the hawks and owls? 



