1890.] 
HAWKS, AND THEIR USES. 
795 
peregrine, which ours much resembles, formerly 
played an important part in falconry, and became 
the pet of kings and nobles, and it was the fe- 
F1G. 5. DUCK-HAWK, OR PEREGRINE FALCON. 
male of this species that was called the “ gentil” 
or “ gentle falcon.” Herons were the principal 
game hunted with this bird, and he who knew 
not “ a hawk from a hernshaw,” as Hamlet 
says, was regarded as ignorant indeed. The 
favorite time for the sport was when the herons 
were passing from the heronry to the ponds after 
food, or upon their return in the evening, espe¬ 
cially if the herons had to fly against the wind. 
When a couple of hawks were flown at a 
heron, the latter at once threw out any food he 
happened to have, “ to lighten ballast ” as a 
sailor would say, and endeavored to mount in 
air so as to give the hawks no chance to strike 
him from above; and thus all three ascended in 
a series of spirals. When one of the falcons 
reached an advantageous point above, he im¬ 
mediately endeavored to close with the heron, 
and if he missed, the other took a turn. When 
one of them finally seized the heron, his com¬ 
panion “ bound ” to him, as it was termed, and 
the three descended lightly to the ground, the 
hawks breaking the fall with outstretched wings. 
In days past, this falcon was carefully protected 
by man for his sport, and severe penalties were 
visited upon any one who molested or destroyed 
it. We live now, however, in more prosaic days; 
and, noble bird though it be, few claims to mercy 
can be urged in favor of the peregrine falcon. 
Its food consists largely of useful birds, and as its 
talons are against every creature it can master, 
so must the hand of man be raised against it. 
Fig. 6.—The Broad-winged Hawk, though 
smaller than most of the foregoing, is still a 
large bird, an old male hawk measuring some¬ 
where from thirteen to fifteen inches from tip 
of bill to end of tail, while the female measures 
from sixteen to eighteen inches. It may be said 
that as a rule among birds of prey, the female 
is always considerably the larger. As their 
strength is according to size, it is supposed that 
its larger size enables the female to provide bet¬ 
ter for her family; though the male, however, lends 
his best assistance. Now as to their food. Most 
people will admit that our Broad-wing has a just 
claim upon gratitude, when they know that its 
chosen bill-of-fare includes snakes, toads, and 
frogs, but not many mice, and very few birds of 
any sort. It is, moreover, very fond of the larvae 
(or caterpillars) of the big night-flying moths. 
Fig. 7.—The Marsh Hawk, also, has a broad 
expanse of wing, and is, perhaps, from its pecul¬ 
iar habits, much easier to know than any of 
our large hawks. His long tail and slim body 
with its white rump, and his habit of “ beating ” 
lightly, but not swiftly, over meadows and fields, 
just above the tops of the grass, cause him to 
be readily recognized. He sometimes trespasses 
by snatching a sparrow or lark, but the food he 
prefers, and that upon which he chiefly lives, 
is mice, ground squirrels, and such little gnaw¬ 
ers. No impudent raider of the hennery is he, 
but a living mouse-trap, and so carefully does he 
quarter and beat over his hunting-ground that 
he is called the 
“marsh harrier.” 
His family con¬ 
nections, how¬ 
ever, give him 
a bad name, his 
good deeds are 
forgotten, and 
many a harrier 
thus falls victim 
to the ignorant 
crusade against 1 * 
the whole hawk 
tribe, or to the 
thoughtlessness 
of the sportsman 
to whom a wing 
shot is a tempta¬ 
tion not to be re- 
SIStcd. FIG. 6. BROAD-WINGED HAWK. 
There are many other large hawks scattered 
over the United States, but the above are the 
ones oftenest found in the eastern section of our 
