36 
THE EED-TAILED BUZZARD. 
strays far from home, for so powerful is this Hawk, that it is able not only 
to kill them, but to carry them off in its claws to a considerable distance. 
The continued attachment that exists between Eagles once paired, is not 
exhibited by these birds, which, after rearing their young, become as 
shy towards each other as if they had never met. This is carried to such 
a singular length, that they are seen to chase and rob each other of their prey, 
on all occasions. I have seen a couple thus engaged, when one of them had 
just seized a young rabbit or a squirrel, and was on the eve of rising in the 
air with it, for the purpose of carrying it off to a place of greater security. 
The one would attack the other with merciless fury, and either force it to 
abandon the prize, or fight with the same courage as its antagonist, to pre- 
vent the latter from becoming the sole possessor. They are sometimes 
observed flying either one after the other with great rapidity, emitting their 
continued cry of kae, or performing beautiful evolutibns through the air, 
until one or other of them becomes fatigued, and giving way, makes for the 
earth, where the battle continues until one is overpowered and obliged to 
make off. It was after witnessing such an encounter between two of these 
powerful marauders, fighting hard for a young hare, that I made the drawing 
now before you, kind reader, in which you perceive the male to have greatly 
the advantage over the female, although she still holds the hare firmly in one of 
her talons, even while she is driven towards the earth, with her breast upwards. 
I have observed that this species will even condescend to pounce on 
wood-rats and meadow-mice ; but I never saw one of these birds seize even 
those without first alighting on a tree before committing the act. 
During the winter months, the Red-tailed Hawk remains perched for 
hours together, when the suu is shining and the weather calm. Its breast 
is opposed to the sun, and it then is seen at a great distance,, the pure white 
of that portion of its plumage glittering as if possessed of a silky gloss. 
They return to their roosting-places so late in the evening, that I have fre- 
quently heard their cry after sun-set, mingling with the jovial notes of 
Chuck- will’s-widow, and the ludicrous laugh of the Barred Owl. In the State 
of Louisiana, the Red-tailed Hawk roosts amongst the tallest branches of 
the Magnolia grandiflora ,. a tree which there often attains a height of a 
hundred feet, and a diameter of from three to four feet at the base. It is 
also fond of roosting on the tall cypress trees of our swamps, where it 
spends the night in security, amidst the mosses attached to the branches. 
The Red-tailed Hawk is extremely wary, and difficult to be approached 
by any one bearing a gun, the use of which it seems to understand perfectly; 
for no sooner does it perceive a man thus armed than it spreads its wings, 
utters a loud shriek, and sails off in an opposite direction. On the other 
hand, a person on horseback, or walking unarmed, may pass immediately 
