Who Killed Cock Robin? 



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puzzled me: a coot could easily have been taken, but how 

 could this slow-moving harrier have struck down the green- 

 winged teal, the fastest-flying of all our ducks? Perhaps the 

 teal had been wounded and had sought a resting place in 

 the area where, unable to move rapidly and perhaps nearly 

 dead, it had fallen easy prey to a bird which, in a country 

 where rodents were protected by plenty of cover, had found 

 a meal in this stricken and easily captured victim. Possibly 

 the duck had a broken wing inflicted by rock-throwing en- 

 thusiasts who frequently stood on the bank and used the 

 marsh birds as targets. At any rate, and regardless of the 

 manner in which it was taken, the marsh hawk was ripping 

 it to pieces with its powerful bill. The responsibility for its 

 death, in the absence of proof to the contrary, was chargeable 

 to this brown-bodied and white-rumped creature which 

 reared itself so fiercely above its victim. 



