August, 1919 
393 
F 
up and down, and apparently did not 
see me at all, though I was standing up 
in plain sight. He at last flew away, 
so I got a makeshift blind made and 
put the owl up on a short pole that hap- 
pened to be lying near by. 
Aside from a few crows which did 
not like the looks of my blind, nothing 
showed up for about three quarters of 
^n hour. I then heard the beat of wings 
and a large female Duck hawk flashed 
by the decoy. Time after time she came 
in and struck, but her mate kept at a 
safe distance all the time. The female 
had a queer lot of calls; her most com- 
mon one was a “kw-e-e-t” usually given 
three times, the last time somewhat 
shriller. Another call she gave sounded 
more like the noise an old bam-yard hen 
makes when well pleased about some- 
thing; a rather plaintive, drawn out 
“kur-r-r-rie.” At other times she called 
like a Cooper’s hawk, only the cackle 
s 
Live great-homed owl watching a sharp- 
shinned hawk 
was shriller. These calls were given 
while sitting on some rock or old dead 
tree, and the cackle only given when 
flying about. Time after time she flew 
within twenty feet of me and it was a 
beautiful sight to see her turn and 
twist, sometimes with her great yellow 
feet extended in a position to strike. 
I HAD one very interesting day when, 
after having had poor success at one 
blind, I moved a mile or so along the 
Palisades to where I knew another pair 
of Duck hawks had their nest on a ledge 
of the cliff below. It was entirely open 
at this point, as there was nothing with 
which to build a blind, so I just sat by 
some big rocks and put the owl on a 
short stick about twenty feet away. I 
was in full view, with my camera on my 
knees, when the female squealed and 
darted at the decoy. For at least twen- 
ty minutes she kept up the attack and 
apparently did not mind me at all, 
though I was changing plates and mov- 
ing a good deal. When at last I stopped, 
owing to people coming along, the owl 
was pretty well torn up. Once when the 
hawk struck, she carried away in her 
OREST AND STREA 
j 
A red-shouldered hawk 
feet a piece of coon skin that I had 
pasted on the owl’s head in place of 
the feathers that had been tom off in 
previous fights and making a large 
circle, she then charged in again. As 
she struck she relea.sed the skin which 
fell near the owl so that I was able to 
pick it up for future use. 
Without exception the Duck hawks 
are the swiftest and most graceful of 
any of the hawks that I have seen come 
to the owl and their appearance when 
flying shows that they have great 
strength. This, with their markings, 
makes them the handsomest hawk of 
any that we see in this country. Cir- 
cling about, just previous to an attack, 
they keep up a continuous cackling, stop- 
ping only when they swoop and, with a 
loud swish of their wings, strike the 
owl with their feet. I saw one hawk 
shoot down from about a three hundred 
Duck hawk in the act of striking. She 
has swooped and is turning upward again. 
The great speed and quick turn is indi- 
cated by the spread of wings eUid tail 
M 
feet height, strike, shoot up away from 
the owl about two hundred feet, with 
wings outstretched and tail fanned out, 
then, as her great momentum ceased she 
turned over in the air and shot down 
at the owl and struck once again. The 
male Duck hawks very seldom come to 
the attack, but keep in the vicinity and 
seem to be afraid to come too close even 
when some one is near their nest. Oc- 
casionally they do strike, but not often, 
and it is another case of the female of 
the species being more savage than the 
male. 
The Marsh hawk or Harrier as it is 
often called, is one of the shyest hawks, 
but is quite inquisitive. Floating around 
and about the open fields and marshes, 
they sometimes stop to flap their wings 
over some patch of bushes, trying to 
drive out mice or small birds, and then 
float on till they sight the owl, when 
they quickly make for it. Most hawks 
The red-shoulder has just struck and the 
back of the stuffed owl’s head can be 
seen falling 
that I have watched, when they see the 
owl, act as if they get their eyes fo- 
cused on it and do not see anything else. 
The Marsh hawks, however, are more 
like crows, as they are continually on 
the lookout for danger, so a hunter or 
photographer must be well concealed. 
Usually they come close to the owl once 
or twice, then go on about their hunt- 
ing and I have never had one strike, 
though I have heard of their doing so. 
These hawks are considered by the au- 
thorities to be on the border line of be- 
ing beneficial and some think they 
should be left alone, but when they run 
across a well stocked game preserve on 
their wanderings, they appear to for- 
get their real diet, of mice and such 
things, and do as much damage as the 
hawks which are acknowledged “kill- 
ers.” 
The little Sharp-shinned hawk is one 
of the worst offenders that we have, but, 
owing to its small size, it confines its 
murderous acts to small song birds and 
only occasionally kills game birds. He 
will dart about and squeal and try to 
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