Bethel, Maine
1907
July 18-22
(No 3)
  Ceaselessly with his long, pointed wings he moved with
surprisingly swiftness for a Circus and soon overtook the object
of his pursuit. Of course I expected a trajedy - and watched
for it breathlessly; but nothing of the kind happened. Although
the Marsh Hawk seemed repeatedly to enfold the smaller bird
in his great wings so that it was quite lost to my sight
for an instant and more than once to strike it so
forcibly with his breast (as I thought, although he may have used
his bill) as to almost overturn it. That he did not once
grasp nor clutch at it with his talons I was very certain.
That he could have seized and held it with ease and
certainty seemed perfectly obvious. No doubt he was merely
playing with or perhaps bullying it, as Hawks of various species
are prone to do when not hungry, not only when it pleases
them to frighten some of the defenceless creatures on which
they prey but also when dealing with smaller and weaker
birds of their own kind which perhaps anger them by
perching on their chosen preserves.
  While the two birds above referred to were in close
contact they performed the most rapid and intricate
evolutions turning and twisting incessantly now rising fifty
feet into the air, next sweeping down nearly to the tips
of the waving grasses. They separated before reaching the woods
but the Marsh Hawk did not give over the pursuit
until he was nearly lost to my sight among the trees.
Then he turned back and proceeded to beat the field
in the leisurely, graceful way characteristic of his kind.
When I finally saw him last he was floating off to
leeward over some thickets, driven like a tuft of thistle
down before the strong north-west wind.
Marsh Hawk chases a bird.