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IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
The marsh hawk builds its nest on the ground in swampy meadows or 
among rushes in a marsh. 
With us the marsh hawk’s season is from early March until November, and 
in mild winters some of them winter here. 
Sharp-shinned Hawh. Of this small, common hawk. Dr. Abbott says: “It 
is feathered lightning. He ceases to be before you realize that he is.” Be- 
cause of his wonderful swiftness and daring, this little hawk is about as 
destructive of poultry and song birds as the famous chicken hawk which I 
shall describe next. 
A frequenter of all wooded districts, this little brigand builds his nest high 
up in a thick topped tree. The nest itself is a bulky platform of sticks with a 
nest of bark, leaves and moss in the center of the top. This hawk is a yearly 
resident. 
Coopers HawTc: Chicken Hawk. This exceedingly destructive hawk has be- 
come, in the last few years, much less common than formerly in Polk county, 
much to the advantage of the song birds and poultry. 
This bird has not the dash and daring of the sharp-shinned hawk, but is 
one of the most crafty of our birds of prey. It is a shy bird, and, except where 
there are chickens, is seldom seen about dwellings, but in and about the wooded 
strips. Its nest is built in the tops of trees in the thick woods and resembles 
that of the last named species. 
During April of 1856 or 1857 a great migratory flight of these hawks was 
noted, in which hundreds of thousands of the birds were seen to pass over 
northwest Des Moines in a single day. They flew in flocks like ducks, one 
flock within easy sight of several others in the general flight and occasionally 
a hungry hawk was seen to drop suddenly from the flock into a chicken yard 
below. 
Red-tailed Hawk: Hen Hawk. The great red-tailed hawk is the most com- 
mon of our big hawks, and it is the one that scatters the hens in wild con- 
fusion upon its appearance, for this hawk is easily capable of carrying off a 
good sized hen. However, it is said that eighty per cent of its food consists 
of rodents, destructive to agriculture. 
Its nest is built, as the last one just described, in the top of a tall tree in 
the deep woods, and there are a few nests to be found every year in Polk 
county. 
Red-shouldered Hawk. A trifle smaller than the red-tailed, this other of 
our big hawks is not quite so often met with in Polk county as is its larger 
cousin. It is a dignified bird with an owl-like flight but majestic, eagle-like 
pose when at test. 
It is also a bird of the deep woods, though it often hunts, as does the marsh 
hawk, about the marshes where frogs are abundant. 
Bald Eagle. No longer found resident in Polk county, though occasionally 
seen here and found nesting in other parts of Iowa, the bald eagle cannot be 
left out of a treatise on birds without a feeling of incompleteness. 
This majestic bird was often found here by the early residents in this sec- 
tion, and in honor to our nation and justice to our state, I take the liberty of 
this much mention of him, and of suggesting that, while we feel a sentimental 
regret that the great bald eagle is no longer found here, perhaps it is fortunate 
for our farmers that this bullying robber is no longer among us. 
