658 
A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
And again and again, and again and again, 
He sought and he sought, but all in vain, 
Till he must have looked for a year and a day 
For the early worm in the twilight gray. 
At last in despair he gave up the search, 
And was heard to remark as he sat on his perch 
By the side of his nest in the hollow tree : 
“ The thing is as plain as the night to me — 
Nothing can shake my conviction firm; 
There’s no such thing as the early worm.” 
— Oliver Her ford 
Family Falconidae: Falcons, Hawks, Eagles 
Marsh Hawk: Circus hudsonius. S. R. 
Harrier, Blue Hawk 
Length: 17-19 inches; female averaging two inches longer. 
Male: Above bluish gray; below white mottled with brown. Wings 
brownish, long, and pointed; tail long; upper tail coverts white. 
Female: Dark reddish brown; below rusty with spots. Bill hooked 
and black, longer than the Owl’s ; feet black. 
Note: All Hawks have a screaming cry, but it is of little aid in iden- 
tifying species. 
Season: A common summer resident; may winter. 
Nest: On the ground, one foot in diameter, of grasses, etc.; in swampy 
meadows or among rushes in marshes. 
Eggs: 4-5, whitish; sometimes with irregular blotches of brown and 
gray shell marks. 
The Marsh Hawk is the most harmless and beneficial of its 
family ; it feeds upon reptiles, locusts, grasshoppers, and small 
mammals, and never disturbs domestic poultry. 
In this locality it is more plentiful in the bogs near fresh 
ponds, and in the vicinity of rivers, than in the salt-marshes. 
It is the summer-day Hawk, and the species most fre- 
quently seen in the warmest months. It flies by night as well 
as day, however, and is often a companion of the Screech Owl 
in its nocturnal rambles. 
Sharp-shinned Hawk: Accipiter velox. R. 
Length: 12 inches; female 14 inches. 
Male and Female: Wings longer than tail. Eyes reddish. Above 
bluish gray, deepest on head. Beneath whitish, barred on the 
sides and breast with rusty and dark brown. Tail even or 
notched. The young are spotted more or less on the back and 
streaked below. Head of this and next species smaller than 
last, while legs and tail are relatively longer. Feet slender. 
