158 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
The hawks came early. One morning in mid 
March Jim looked aloft, at a shrill cry which 
floated down, and saw sailing there on almost 
motionless wings a great red-tailed hawk. He 
didn’t mind this fellow much, though, knowing it 
was unlikely to molest him. But the sharp 
shinned hawk which arrived that day and pro- 
ceeded at once to course low over the mountain 
woods, swooping down to investigate the nest two 
of Jim’s friends had used the season before, and 
which they intended rebuilding for the coming 
summer, was a different customer. ‘The old crow 
cawed a summons, and the four of them went for 
this hawk on the rush. He didn’t care to fight 
four of them, and they drove him away, chasing 
him for a full mile, while farmers in the fields 
looked up to see what the excitement was about. 
But the most wonderful part of that first 
spring for Jim was the arrival in the neighbor- 
hood of several strange crows, one of them a fe- 
male of his own age, in whom he took a sudden 
profound interest, and before whom he began to 
show off at every possible occasion. For her he 
preened his glossy feathers till they shone, he 
