Birds & Nature Magazine 



47 



was visited again, the shells were slightly 

 cracked. Within the chalky prison-walls 

 the infantile screams of the little hawks 

 could be heard as they pounded feebly on 

 the shell. The following day the hawklets 

 had gained their freedom. What queer 

 little wiggling things they were! By the 

 1st of May they were entirely covered with 

 soft white down. They soon began to 

 show fear of man. But a suit of white 

 would never do for a hawk : a hunter must 

 be covered with less conspicuous garments. 

 A few days later, when we peered over the 



The eggs, which were laid the first week 

 in April, were hatched on the twentieth. 

 These birds of prey required three times 

 as long to reach maturity as a sparrow or 

 a warbler, for it was six weeks, to a day, 

 from the time they hatched until they left 

 the nest. By the 1st of June, conditions 

 had changed somewhat in the vicinity of 

 the hawk's nest. The river had risen and 

 the water surrounded the base of the tree. 

 The spot could be reached only by wad- 

 ing through the woods for half a mile. 

 Peering up through the foliage where we 



A Characteristic Pose 



edge of the nest, we discovered that dark 

 pin-feathers had begun to take the place of 

 the feathers of downy white : the birds 

 were growing. 



The young birds sometimes assumed 

 striking poses, but conditions were not at 

 all favorable to instantaneous photography. 

 At first the mother showed them how to 

 tear the food by holding it with their 

 talons; but the hawk instinct soon took 

 possession of the young, and they were eager 

 to seize the struggling victims that were 

 carried to them. 



could get a glimpse of the nest, we saw 

 the two young braves straining their necks 

 and looking over at us. All went well as 

 we ascended the tree, until the large fork 

 was reached below the nest. Then one of 

 the parents, with a great swoop downward 

 and away from us, uttered two piercing 

 shrieks. The command was instantly 

 obeyed. The two young hawks sailed off 

 through space as boldly as if they had been 

 old birds. Over toward the Columbia they 

 flew, and disappeared in the distance, while 

 we gazed after them in sadness. 



