Who Killed Cock Robin? 



23 



^^/^ ONE FALL MORNING WHEN I PAD- 



dled along the marsh edge, I noticed a moving object on a 

 log inside a little bay made by the recession of the vegeta- 

 tion. When I quietly forced my canoe into the open water 

 surrounded by a brown ring of old and drooping cattails, I 

 saw, much to my astonishment, a marsh hawk feeding on a 

 bird which proved to be a green-winged teal. Once before I 

 had encountered one as it started to tear open a coot. I had 

 dismissed that incident without much thought. It was the 

 first time I had ever seen the marsh hawk with a bird victim, 

 although I had seen them beat the wet meadows day after 

 day where the plentiful supply of ducks below thern paid no 

 attention to their passing. But this was the second case in the 

 marsh, and I asked myself if in this area the marsh hawk 

 is to be considered a regular predator on birds. Many people 

 would have thought this second killing was all the evidence 

 needed, but I had watched the bird too many times to be 

 sure. For example, I saw the Cooper hawk much more infre- 

 quently, but I had watched it dash into flocks of small birds. 

 Though the marsh was always full of larger birds in fall, I 

 had never seen a marsh hawk attack one. Another thing 



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