1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



511 



Hawlc, Chicken Hawk, &c., pounces upon his 

 quarry with great velocity and force, striking it 

 while in the air, on the ground, or floating on the 

 surface of the water, Avith almost equal facility ; 

 in the former case striking his victim to the ground 

 with his powerful talons, and returning, picks it 

 up and bears it away. It occasionidly displays its 

 audacity in snatching up the Duck killed by the 

 sportsman, approaching boldly even within thirty 

 paces of the hunter who shot it ; and in return 

 the sportsman is sometimes fortunate in securing 

 the game struck down by this Hawk. The Duck 

 Hav/k is said to breed in trees, retiring to the 

 dark recesses of the gloomy, almost inaccessible 

 cedar swamps to build its eyry, "where," observes 

 Mr. Ord, "the wild screams of this bird, occa- 

 sionally mingled with the hoarse tones of the Her- 

 on, and the bootings of the Great Horned Owl, 

 echoing through the dreary solitude, arouse in 

 the imagination all the imagery of desolation." 



The Sparrow Hawk, (Falco sparmrms, 

 Linn.,) the smallest of our New England Hawks, 

 is found, according to DeKay, inhabiting the 

 American continent fi'om 54° south latitude to the 

 same degree of north, and is quite common in 

 the warmer parts of the United States ; but Nut- 

 tall remarks that it is rare in the maritime parts 

 of New England, but it is generally seen in most 

 parts of the Eastern States throughout the year, 

 though not common. Small birds, quadrupeds 

 and reptiles constitute its chief prey, though 

 young chickens from the farmyard are always ac- 

 ceptable ; and it occasionally partakes of grass- 

 hoppers and other insects. In flight and manner 

 of hunting, it diff'ers considerably from the Fal- 

 cons above described ; it flying irregularly, and 

 occasionally hovering over a particular spot for a 

 minute, as though watching some object beneath 

 it ; and at times will watch from a tree-top for a 

 long time for the appearance of mice, or other 

 game. It will sometimes approach a group of 

 small birds with a low and stealthy, but rapid 

 flight, pounce upon one with the rapidity of light- 

 ning, and away with it in an instant, striking with 

 terror the remainder of the group at the sudden- 

 ness of the unlooked for attack. 



This Hawk measures ten or eleven inches in 

 length, and about twenty-three in extent ; up])er 

 parts reddish bay, with seven black spots around 

 the head ; under parts, pale yellowish white, with 

 longitudinal spots of brown. Nests in hollow 

 trees, laying four to six brownish eggs. 



The Pigeon Hawk, Falcn columbarius, Linn.,) 

 a little larger than the preceding, and less numer- 

 ous, is occasionally seen in New England, more 

 commonly in autumn and winter, it retiring far 

 to the north in summer to incubate. Its nest has 

 been discovered at Hudson's Bay, placed in hol- 

 low rocks, or decayed trees, composed of sticks 

 and grass, and lined with feathers ; eggs two to 

 four, white, thinly dotted with red spots. From 

 its swiftness of flight it is sometimes known as 

 the Bullet Hawk; and Audubon mentions that 

 "the daring spirit which it displays exceeds that 

 of any other Hawk of its size ;" and adds that 

 he has known them to attack birds in cages sus- 

 pended against the walls of buildings in the very 

 streets of our cities ! It pounces without hesi- 

 tancy upon Robins, Blackbirds, Sparrows, &c., and 

 even Wild Pigeons, thus proving a serious anno}'- 

 ance to the pigconer. 



Le Petit Caporal, or Little Corporal 

 Hawk of Audubon, (FaJco temerarivs,) described 

 by him as a new species, is now supposed to be 

 the adult Pigeon Hawk. 



The Merlin, {Falco oesahm, Will.,) a spirited 

 Falcon, not uncommon in Europe, is occasionally 

 met with in the northern ])arts of this continent, 

 but occurs in New England as a rather rare acci- 

 dental straggler. It is characterized by the same 

 daring spirit of those already described, and in 

 the "olden days of falconry" was highly prized for 

 the chase. - J. A. a. 



OIL FOR BOOTS AND HAKWESS. 



Some practice and a deal of reasoning from an- 

 alogy has proved that the very best oil for all ap- 

 plications to leather is the common castor oil, 

 (from the bean of the Palraa Christa plant,) and 

 identical with that with which careful mothers 

 sometimes nauseate their children. One of the 

 reasons of its value is that it has less affinity for 

 water than any other oil, and less tendency to 

 harden or thicken the leather, as neatsfoot and 

 other animal oils do. Leather that has been fre- 

 quently saturated with any kind of animal fat 

 and exposed to water, as boots and harness are, 

 instead of remaining pliable, becomes hard and 

 dry, losing its elasticity, and finally becoming 

 brittle and worthless ; but that which is oiled 

 with the extract of the Palma Christa bean, and 

 in a less degree with flaxseed oil, appears to re- 

 tain its fibrous toughness a great deal longer. 

 The oil is naturally viscid, containing some ghiti- 

 nous matter, which serves a better purpose than 

 animal oil to exclude the water which, when ab- 

 sorbed in leather, is the real cause of its non- 

 elasticity. 



Castor oil, if bought by the gallon, is not ex- 

 pensive. It was manufactured a few years ago in 

 Illinois and sold at fifty cents a gallon, and the 

 beans were grown as a field crop at fifty cents a 

 bushel. It is well worth the while of farmers to 

 give castor oil a trial as a lubricator of leather. 



For the Netr England Farmer. 

 COPPER SOLED SHOES. 



Mr. Editor : — Some months since, I wrote a 

 short notice for your paper In praise of copper 

 soled shoes as a substitute for rubbers. It fol- 

 lowed a short editorial notice to the same purport. 

 But experience has not confirmed those views ; 

 they do not prove as valuable as we hoped. 



I was reminded of this notice by reading the 

 following in the Boston Recorder of May 11th, 

 1822: "Three persons in Sussex, England, have 

 lately lost their lives by wearing sheet copper in 

 the soles of their shoes, to keep the feet dry. 

 When the inner soles give way, the perspiration 

 of the feet, acting upon the copper, communicates 

 to the system an active and dangerous poison." 



While on the subject of shoes, I would remark 

 that a physician of Portland (Me.) has been mak- 

 ing the anatomy of the human foot a special study 

 with regard to making a shoe which shall be bet- 

 ter adapted to it than the present fashion. We 

 all know that a shoe has but little semblance to 

 the foot. We wish the doctor success. 



Springfield, Vt., Sept. 12, 1860. A. E. P. 



