Music of the Wild 



provide for even minutest details, the hawk has his 

 place and his purjjose. In order that he may not 

 become a burden A\'hen he levies uj^on us, he is 

 given only two nestlings, while we raise chickens 

 by the hundred; and the game birds upon which 

 he preys as a rule number from fifteen to twenty 

 in a brood, like quail, rail, and ducks. There is 

 further to be considered that a A\arning of the 

 hawk's descent is almost universal in field and for- 

 est. If the scratching hen does not see him, a 

 nearby cock does; and if wild mothers are busy 

 searching for food there is the blue jay to tell on 

 him, and so the strongest of his i)rey take to cover 

 and he gets only the weakling, that is best re- 

 moved from the brood for the sake of the health 

 of those remaining or of young it might raise. 



There is not much to be said for hawk music, 



yet the voice of the forest would lose the charm 



The of its wildest note were tliis great bird extinct, and 



Wildest 1^ jj^ because it is wild and different from sounds 



Note of 



the Forest *'f every day that we love it. Then, as a picture 

 seen from afar, the forest never would be complete 

 without these birds of tireless wing hanging over 

 it and reigning upon tlieir thrones of air. So I 

 hope earnest consideration will be given these 

 points in favor of the royal bird before another 

 of its kind is dropped from its high estate. 



Up where tlie haA\k chants his ))attle-hymn, the 

 crow chuckles, and the pewee wails, outlined clearly 



68 



