82 IN BERKSHIRE FIELDS 



inhabitant of the North, visit regions where hitherto 

 he was comparatively unknown in any such num- 

 bers, but he seemed to be displaying a tendency to 

 remain, at least for all the winter months. It may 

 be he will yet have to be reckoned as our worst 

 winged enemy. I collected that winter a few re<j- 

 ords of his exploits from my own immediate neigh- 

 borhood, which can be duplicated, probably over 

 most of New England and New York. The total 

 amount of his destruction was certainly huge. 



For example, a single goshawk near the city of 

 Pittsfield wantonly killed seventeen pigeons, carry- 

 ing away only one of them to eat. A goshawk in 

 Sheffield was seen by a farmer to swoop upon a 

 pheasant in a field and kill it. Another farmer lost 

 several hens, and on more than one occasion was 

 close by when the raid was made, but could never 

 get his gun up quick enough to bag the hawk. 

 Finally this hawk killed and managed to carry off a 

 full-grown Plymouth Rock rooster. As the goshawk 

 stands but twenty-one to twenty-two inches high, 

 and weighs considerably less than the fattened fowl, 

 you can gather some idea of its power. There were 

 numerous other records of domestic fowl and 

 pigeon killing, and tales by the hunters of pheasants, 

 grouse, and even rabbits slaughtered by this pirate 

 of the air. It is fortunate for us that the bird does 

 not yet breed so far south as this. Though a few of 

 our woodsmen maintained that the following spring 

 the goshawks were showing signs of breeding here- 

 abouts, there was no real evidence obtainable that 

 they ever did so. 



Several specimens were shot that winter, one or 



