202 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
hold in the present case, for such is the respect paid 
to the fish-hawk, not only by this class of men gener- 
ally, but by the whole neighborhood where it resides, 
that a person who should attempt to shoot one of 
them would stand a fair chance of being insulted.’ 
“ ‘ It is amusing to watch this bird in his fishing 
manoeuvres. On leaving his nest he steers directly 
for the water; then sails around in easy curving 
lines that are very graceful, sometimes turning in 
the air as on a pivot, without the least exertion, as 
he seldom moves his wings, and his legs are extended 
in a straight line behind. Sometimes he is gliding 
through the air in this easy way at a height of two 
hundred feet or more above the water, all the while 
calmly examining the surface below. Suddenly he 
is seen to check his course as if struck by a partic- 
ular object, which he seems to survey for a few mo- 
ments with such steadiness that he appears fixed in 
air, flapping his wings. This object, however, he 
abandons, or rather the fish he had in his eye has 
disappeared, and he is again seen sailing round as 
before. 
“ ‘ Now he again sees something, and he descends 
with great rapidity, but before he touches the water 
he shoots off on another course, as if ashamed that 
a second victim has escaped him. He now sails at 
a short height above the surface, and by a zigzag 
