THE NIDOLOGIST ; 73 
beauty and began to grow long and lanky. 
After thirteen days from their capture they 
got to flapping their wings vigorously and 
when placed on the floor would run with 
ridiculously long strides, flapping as they 
went, and falling in a heap when they got 
through. They aiso performed many other 
ridiculous gymnastics. 
Then as became their years, I was about 
to say, they got inquisitive and conceited, 
and made an attack on a motherly old cat 
who was eating her dinner of warm corn- 
bread, and when she fled they calmly 
devoured the entire supply. Their crops 
remained full 'till evening and they ate no 
supper. Next morning they were hungry 
for meat but cared no more for corn-bread. 
It was rarely necessary to cut up the 
food that was given, as they swallowed 
almost everything whole, excepting mud- 
turtles. Jennie, the female, swallowed 
whole a ribbon snake, A. Saurite, twenty- 
-seven inches long, and enjoyed it all the 
way down. 
She was always cross and unsociable, 
but Sam the male, was intelligent, good- 
natured and tame; used to chatter in a con- 
versational way and apparently showed a 
good deal of affection, though I could never 
be certain of that. They always got along 
well with the young Barred Owl. 
All this happened at the home of my 
cousins where I was visiting. When we 
had had them twenty-four days I put the 
Hawks in a box and brought them ina 
buggy to my home, a distance of twenty- 
five miles,leaving the Owl with my cousins. 
At this time the bodies of the Hawks 
were pretty well feathered, and their heads 
were thickly set with pin-feathers, which 
they delighted in having scratched. 
Sam’s coloring was warmer in tone than 
was Jennie’s, whose prevailing shades were 
white and gray. 
They were put into an empty hay mow 
with slats across the open door, and there 
they had more fun than a little. They 
were very fond of bathing in a pan but 
could not be induced to enter a tub, and a 
favorite diversion was to run across the 
floor at the top of their speed and plump 
into the pan with a big splash. 
When given a short corncob ora small 
wooden ball they would play with it for 
hours, rolling it around with their feet, 
picking at it, or standing onit and rocking. 
When the ball was first given them Sam 
hopped up to it and Jennie sailed down 
from her perch, striking him with her 
breast and knocking him down. Sam was 
up in a second, dancing and chattering, 
and bumped into Jennie, the two striking 
at each other with their talons. Then quick 
as a flash they backed off, one to each wall, 
and rushed together cackling and screech- 
ing, and this was repeated. 
My notes do not tell me and I do not 
remember what closed the contest. 
On June 3, about a month after his cap- 
ture, Sam got out of the mow and flew to 
the house roof, a distance of about one 
hundred feet. He was caught without 
difficulty and returned to his quarters. 
The same afternoon the most agonizing 
screams I ever heard came from the hay- 
mow; screams that I believe could have 
been heard for a mile. I hastened to the 
rescue and found the Hawks in mortal ter- 
ror of a Great Horned Owl, which had been 
occupying an adjoining mow, and was now 
quietly sitting on the perch provided for 
the Hawks, while the latter were cowering 
in corners, and when I approached threw 
themselves on their backs with wings out- 
spread and chattered hysterically. 
About this time the Hawks changed 
their style of eating and instead of bolting 
their food in whatever shape it was given 
them, they would pick and swallow it in 
almost infinitesimal bits. 
Atone time by way of experiment, I gave 
them live Sparrows. They pounced on 
them and then to my horror, very leisurely 
plucked them alive, one feather at a time, 
looking around each time to see what I was 
doing. Worse yet, they ate the birds alive 
in the same dilletante fashion, the agonized 
unfortunates writhing and wailing under 
the process. I attempted to interfere, but 
was informed that I might fare worse if I 
did not let them alone. 
It was their invariable habit after they 
had begun to feed themselves, to turn their 
backs towards one, drooping their wings 
and spreading their tails, often looking 
back apprehensively with warning cries. 
At one time I killed a snake and immedi- 
ately brought it in, placing it on the top of 
a barrel. Sam pounced on it at once but 
when he saw it writhe he backed off to the 
edge of the barrel, standing high on his 
legs staring, and with wings uplifted. 
This was repeated several times until he 
got courage enough to tear the neck open, 
when he hooked his claws into the skin, 
drawing out the flesh until it was all eaten, 
