330 The Sparrow Hawk 



fact that it is a hawk and has been known even occa- 

 sionally to capture a bird or a chicken is, in the eyes 

 of many people, reason enough for exterminating it. 

 They do not stop to consider the great amount of 

 good it has done in destroying mice alone. From 

 the nature of its food, this bird should be protected 

 by law, instead of being a mark for every passing 

 gunner. 



The sparrow hawk lives in harmony with most other 

 birds, even when nesting near them. Last summer 

 I discovered two old maple stubs standing about 

 twenty feet apart by the edge of a meadow; in one 

 of these were flickers nesting, in the other were three 

 hungry young sparrow hawks always clamoring to 

 be fed. I watched these two families until the young 

 of each flew away, and not once did I observe the 

 sparrow hawks troubling the flickers. On the con- 

 trary, the sparrow hawks were a help, keeping all 

 larger hawks and crows at a distance. 



The blue jay appears to have a great dislike for 

 the sparrow hawk, and on several occasions I have 

 seen three or more blue jays noisily pursuing one 

 hawk. I remember an incident of this kind that 

 happened in the autumn of 1900 in a large apple- 

 orchard, where I was photographing the nest of a 

 red squirrel. When I first entered the orchard I 



