254 
GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 
olF on striking- it, has given rise to the belief of that service 
being performed by means of the breast, which vulgar opinion 
has armed with a projecting bone, adapted to the purpose. 
But this cannot be the fact, as the breast~bone of this bird does 
not differ from that of others of the same tribe, which would 
not admit of so violent a concussion. 
When the water-fowl perceive the approach of their enemy, 
a universal alarm pervades their ranks ; even man himself, with 
his engine of destruction, is not more terrible. But the effect 
is different. When the latter is beheld, the whole atmosphere 
is enlivened with the whistling of wings ; when the former is 
recognised, not a duck is to be seen in the air : they all speed 
to the water, and there remain until the hawk has passed them, 
diving the moment he comes near them. It is worthy of re- 
mark, that he will seldom, if ever, strike over the water, un- 
less it be frozen ; well knowing that it will be difficult to se- 
cure his quarry. This is something more than instinct. 
When the sportsmen perceive the hawk knock down a duck, 
they frequently disappoint him of it, by being first to secure 
it. And as one evil turn, according to the maxim of the mul- 
titude, deserves another, our hero takes ample revenge on 
them, at every opportunity, by robbing them of their game, 
the hard-earned fruits of their labour. 
The duck hawk, it is said, often follows the steps of the gun- 
ner, knowing that the ducks will be aroused on the wing, 
which will afford it an almost certain chance of success. 
We have been informed, that those ducks which are struck 
down, have their backs lacerated from the rump to the neck. 
If this be the fact, it is a proof that the hawk employs only its 
talons, which are long and stout, in the operation. One re- 
spectable inhabitant of Cape May, told us that he has seen the 
hawk strike from below. 
This species has been long known in Europe ; and in the 
age of falconry, was greatly valued for those qualifications 
which rendered it estimable to the lovers and followers of that 
