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swift. It is nearly as dangerous to birds as its larger and 
stronger congener. It breeds here, feeds its young on birds, 
and will kill birds as large as a jay. It is often mobbed 
by jays, but not infrequently strikes one of its tormentors, 
when all the rest of the cowardly crew fly away, leaving the 
hawk to finish its victim. 
Probably most of the birds now killed by hawks in Mas- 
sachusetts are struck down by these two species. Some- 
times in the fall these hawks may be seen in great numbers 
high in air, migrating south. Mr. W. S. Perry estimates 
that he saw at least one thousand, mostly sharp-shinned and 
Cooper hawks, going south Oct. 10, 1892. He watched them 
flying all day. He estimates that each bird will eat on the 
average two small birds each day, or seven hundred each year. 
At that estimate, the one thousand hawks which came within 
the range of his vision would eat seven hundred thousand 
birds a year. I regard these two birds and the goshawk as 
the only hawks that always and everywhere should be shot 
by gunners, most others being a positive benefit, or so rare 
as to do little harm. 
The pigeon hawk, also a bird hawk, is not common, and 
the sparrow hawk feeds chiefly on insects. The broad- 
winged hawk seldom kills birds, and the marsh hawk kills 
birds, but feeds mainly on small mammals in most localities. 
The Blue Jay. — The blue jay, a smaller cousin of the 
crow, has a similarly unsavory record, and experience has 
convinced me that it is merited. It attacks the eggs of birds 
from the size of the smallest sparrow and warbler to that of 
the robin. The robins, if at hand, will successfully defend 
their nests ; but the j ay will watch, and sometimes eventually 
appropriates the eggs in the robin’s absence. The jay pays 
little attention to the screaming and protesting vireos, but 
robs their nests as unconcernedly as though the parent birds 
were not present. When jays have young in the nest, they 
sometimes watch the nests of the smaller birds very closely. 
Hardly is a clutch laid when it disappears, and most of the 
smaller birds lose at least one set of eggs. I am aware that 
many people find it hard to believe that such a pretty bird 
as the blue jay can be such a rascal; therefore, I will produce 
evidence to support my own assertions, for the mere fact 
