GAME FALCON. 267 
committing depredations among the young poultry. When leav- 
ing its stand it usually flies low and swiftly, and just before 
reaching its intended perch rises up with a semicircular sweep, 
and alights with ease, instantly closing its wings and keeping its 
balance by the motion of its tail, not using its wings for that pur- _ 
pose, as do most hawks when alighting. They become very much 
attached to one particular spot and may be seen for weeks and 
months occupying the same stump or stake. Their flight is usu- 
ally short and irregular; sometimes hovering for a short time 
with suspended wings, reconnoitring for prey, and then flying off 
to another place to renew the same manœuvre. They are easily 
SERED Audubon relates an instance of his taking a young 
and providing it with food until able to hunt for himself, 
aA he let him go. ‘This proved,” says Audubon, ‘‘a gratifica- 
tion to both of us. It soon hunted for grasshoppers and other in- 
sects, and returning from my walks, I now and then threw up a 
dead bird high in the air which it never failed to perceive from its 
stand, and towards which it launched with such quickness as 
sometimes to catch it before it fell to the ground. To the last he 
continued kind to me, and never failed to return at night to his 
favorite roost behind the window shutter. His courageous dispo- 
sition often amused the family, as he would sail off from his perch 
and fall on the back of a tame duck which, setting up a loud 
quack, would waddle off in great alarm with the hawk sticking to 
her. In attempting to secure a chicken one day, the old hen at- 
tacked him with such violence as to cost him his life.” When 
they first appear in the spring, their gyrations and cooings are 
very amusing. No falling in love at first sight can be more amo- 
rous. Audubon has described it so graphically that I venture to 
quote. ‘When spring returns, each male bird seeks for its mate, 
whose coyness is not less innocent than that of .the gentle dove. 
Pursued from place to place, the female at length yields to the im- 
portunity of her dear tormentor, when side by side they, sail 
screaming aloud their love notes. With tremulous wings they 
search for a place in which to deposit their eggs; the birds sit 
alternately, each feeding the other and watching with silent care. 
The family resort to the same field, and.each chooses his stand, 
stake or mullein stalk, and together hunt.” The sparrow hawk is 
somewhat dainty, refusing to eat woodpeckers or tainted food, 
and it is said if it catches a mouse which proves to be lousy and 
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