Red-shouldered Hawk. — I captured a 
beautiful specimen of a Red-shouldered 
Hawk, a male, in mature plumage, a few 
days ago. It seemed to have adopted the 
range of the creek passing near by for its 
Winter hunting ground as early as Octo- 
ber, and he included our immediate vicin- 
ity in his daily excursions. Perhaps I 
was unjust by him, but I imputed the 
cause of my diminishing poultry to him, 
but with no positive proof. However that 
might be, I had an earnest desire for his 
skin, and kept my gun specially prepared 
for him, and have returned from many a 
fruitless effort only to wish I could get a 
little nearer. There was a solitary tree on 
the bank where he rested almost every 
day as he took his excursion up the creek, 
and a thought struck me, if I only had a 
rabbit — well, I got one, and the day after 
Thanksgiving I tied it to a spring and set 
a steel trap on a large branch under it — 
but I saw the hawk rest no more on that 
tree. He seemed to entertain suspicions 
that something was wrong till the 17th of 
January, looking that way, I had the satis- 
faction of seeing my coveted bird stand- 
ing there with a foot securely fastened in 
the trap. The Winter has been pretty se- 
vere on the birds and they have almost 
entirely deserted us, but I had the satis- 
faction of securing one thing new to my 
collection a few days ago — a Purple Sand- 
piper captured on the jetty off the mouth 
of the river. — J. N. Clark , Old Say brook , 
Conn. O.&O. VI 1. Dec. 15. 1882. p. »Vf. 
