Circus hudsonius. 
Bethel, Maine. Marsh Hawk chases a bird. 
1907 
July 18-22 
About 9 A.M. of July 20 I saw a fine adult male Marsh 
Hawh cross the wide open field at the rear of the Doctor's house 
in hot pursuit of a much smaller bird. What the latter ’was I could 
not determine for it doubled and twisted so that its manner of 
flight gave me no clue and the sun so dazzled my eyes that I was 
unable to make out its coloring which, however, appeared to be 
nearly uniform and rather dark. At first I took the bird to be a 
Flicker but just as it reached the woods and glided smoothly and 
swiftly on set wings for a few yards before disappearing among the 
foliage of a big balsam it looked and acted more like a male Sharp- 
shinned Hawk. Whatever it was the Marsh Hawk gave it a sharp chase 
and, no doubt, something of a fright. When I first noticed him he 
was about one hundred yards distant from me and perhaps fifty feet 
from the smaller bird. Flying at a height of some twenty feet 
above the ground - which here sloped gently downward towards the 
woods - and lashing the air vigorously and ceaselessly with his long 
pointed wings he moved with surprising swiftness for a Circus and 
soon overtook the object of his pursuit. Of course I expected a 
tragedy - and watched for it breathlessly, but nothing of the kind 
happened although the Marsh Hawk seemed repeatedly to enfold the 
smaller bird in his great wings so that it was quite lost to my 
sight for an instant and more than once to strike it so forcibly 
with his breast (as I thought, although he may have used his bill) 
as to almost overturn it. That he did nbt once grasp nor even 
