December, 1919 
FOREST AND STREAM 
065 
Hawk.” I had not knowingly ever seen 
the bird, and it is probable that those 
from which I received my impressions of 
him had never consciously seen him, or, 
having seen him, had never observed his 
habits and were unfamiliar with £is 
actual characteristics. He was merely a 
hawk and, to them, “all hawks looked 
alike.” 
The “Goose Hawk” as presented to my 
young mind was a fierce monster of the 
air whose chief business in life was at- 
tacking and killing the great wild goose, 
either in flight or when resting on terra 
firma or peacefully feeding in field or 
marsh; destroying him in terrific combat 
and bearing the body aw’ay to distant 
aerie in tree or rocky ledge, to be de- 
voured at leisure. Later I came to know 
the bird by his popular proper name of 
goshawk and learned to admire him for 
swiftness of flight, indomitable courage 
and perseverance. My Condensed Ameri- 
can Cyclopedia says: 
“Goshawk, a bird of prey of the family 
falconidae, sub-family accipitrianac, and 
genus astur (lacep). The only species 
in the United States is the American gos- 
hawk (A atriettpillus. Wils.), found all 
over North America, but most abundant 
in the north and northwest. The adult 
female is about 2 ft. long; extent of 
wings, 4 ft.; weight about 3 lbs.; the 
male is smaller; the sexes are alike in 
plumage. This is one of the boldest and 
most rapid of the genus, and follows with 
untiring wing the flocks of wild pigeons 
and ducks; it seldom lights unless to de- 
vour its prey, and when thus engaged 
^ands veiT erect.” 
It will be seen from the reference to 
“flocks of wild pigeons” in the foregoing 
extract that my cyclopedia is of some- 
what ancient vintage, or (not an un- 
usual thing) has not been edited up to 
date. Had the goshawk followed the 
flocks of wild pigeons he would not now 
be a terror to the ducks. 
Once, when shooting wild-fowl from a 
stand upon a line of flight in the Missouri 
river bottom, in Iowa, I had an illustra- 
tion of the courage and persistency of 
this bird. We did not shoot from float- 
ing blinds in those days, nor seek es- 
pecially the shores of lakes or streams; 
the mere proximity of such was sufficient. 
The bottom lands of the Missouri ex- 
tending along the greater portion of the 
w’estern boundary' of Iowa, and varying 
from three to twenty miles in width, were 
dotted with lakes, ponds and sloughs or 
marshes, embracing in area from a single 
acre or less to several square miles. In 
these grew wild rice, wild celery, and 
rushes or reeds, the succulent roots and 
shoots of which afforded excellent feed 
for water-fowl, to which the latter were 
wont to resort for food and wherein, 
sometimes, they spent their hours of rest 
from long migratory flights. Their route 
in journeying between the north and 
south lands followed this chain of swamp 
and slough — not the actual course of the 
river — and their flight was usually not 
so high as to be out of the ordinary' shot- 
gun range in the proximity of these feed- 
ing places: so a stand, almost anywhere, 
on the 'land along the line (preferably 
between two of the larger bodies of open 
water) was entirely satisfactory, and a 
few bunches of long slough grass, care- 
fully arranged so as to avoid the ap- 
pearance of an actual structure, served 
as a screen or “blind” for the conceal- 
ment of the sportsman, his trusty muzzle 
loader and his good retriever. I do not 
mean by this the kind of dog now bred 
in sporting kennels, as we did not have 
them, but just any kind of dog that w'ould 
“fetch.” 
On an occasion in early fall when shoot- 
ing from a “blind” such as described 
above, on a favorite ground a few miles 
north of Council Bluffs, having been 
rather successful in my morning shoot. 
I had looped together my “bag” prepara- 
tory to returning to camp for the noon- 
day rest, the birds lying in front of me 
and not a yard away, some of them of 
the brightly' colored varieties of duck, 
when there came a rush of air accom- 
panied by a swish of wing, and a“Goose 
Hawk” swooped down upon and grappled 
the string of game. Of course he could 
not lift the entire lot and he dashed 
away with feather-filled talons. Circling 
about for a moment he came again, and 
I struck at him with my cleaning rod 
as he drew near enough, driving him 
away'. He screamed as he flew away' 
and soon again made a dash for the 
quarry'. I waved my arms and suc- 
ceeded in driving him off, but still he re- 
turned, approaching within ten feet of 
me. I waved the rod at him and he 
poised in air almost perpendicularly, 
with beating wings, claws e.xteuded and 
eyes gleaming, screaming or whistling 
most angrily and viciously. Again and 
again he returned to the conflict, until at 
last I was compelled (most reluctantly on 
account of his courage) to shoot him at 
short range, blowing him to fragments. 
Chas. H. Babbitt, Washington, D, C, 
A CANOE TRIP SOUVENIR. 
To the Editor of Forest akd Stream; 
S ouvenirs of an outing trip always 
enhance the pleasure of retrospect. 
The cowboy of wild west days used to 
cut a notch in his rifle stock for each live 
Indian converted into a “good” Indian. 
The accompanying picture reproduces my 
canoe paddle and has helped me visualize 
to my friends my last trip. 
The following procedure w'ill enable the 
reader to map his route and record the 
salient features of a trip. Assuming one 
has available (or is able to make) a map 
of the water-way traversed, this base map 
is readily enlarged on engineer’s cros 
section paper, giving only such details 
as it is desired to reproduce, keeping in 
mind the limitations of space that are de- 
manded by reason of the breadth of the 
paddle blade. If your route covers other 
than a tolerably' straight line course, 
such as may well . obtain where you are 
in a glaciated lake-studded region, it 
may be necessary to distort the relations 
of the compass by changing the direction, 
as shown in the above illustration where 
the dotted line quadrant indicates this. 
With the map prepared on a proper 
scale, it is transferred to the paddle blade 
in the following way': Remove the varnish, 
from the blade by sandpapering same; 
then sprinkle chalk dust from a used 
blackboard eraser over surface to prevent 
ink from running. Lay a carbon paper 
over blade; then the prepared map, and 
with a blunt pencil trace the outlines of 
rivers, lakes, and salient points you wish 
to preserve. Then finish map by tracing 
with India ink on the blade, using black 
for the map outlines, and water proof red 
ink for the cane# course. 
Portages should be designated In chain 
lengths; falls in feet; camp sites may be 
noted by triangular tent-like locations 
giving dates occupied. Big game seen 
such as moose I have marked with a letter 
within a circle. A roster of the party 
and necessary dates should not be omitted. 
Finally varnish and you have a perma* 
nent record of your outing. ' 
H. L. Russell, Wisconsin- 
A canoe paddle srith the map of a memorable trip etched on its surface. 
