796 
HAWKS, AND THEIR USES. 
[July, 
FIG. 7. MARSH-HAWK. 
country. As will be seen, they are, with two ex¬ 
ceptions, really useful to farmers, feeding upon 
creatures that for the most part are certainly use¬ 
less and injurious to man, while the harm they 
do the poultry and game is so slight as to 
scarcely weigh in the balance against them. 
The two injurious species, besides being un¬ 
common, may readily be known from the others. 
Passing now to what we may call the small 
hawks, let us glance at the two most important, 
from 14 to 17 inches long; the female 18 
to 20 inches. Fig. 9.— The male Sharp- 
shinned Hawk, a miniature of the last-named, 
measures from 10 to 11 % inches, while the 
female measures 12^ to 14 inches. Size, 
however, does not count for much in the 
matter of hawk effectiveness, and the two 
rascals now on trial before us, though small, 
are remarkable for speed and impudence. 
Woe betide the flock of small birds that 
attracts the attention of one of these winged 
bullets! Possessing speed and courage in 
the highest degree, they search along hedge¬ 
rows and copses, pass in graceful flight 
among the orchard trees, and follow their 
winding paths through tangled brush and 
vine, with the hope 
of surprising some 
luckless sparrow, 
dove, or quail. The 
terrified bird tries 
to fly, or, better, to 
dodge into some 
riendly brush pile or 
thorny patch. The 
hawk instantly pursues; 
and fortunate indeed 
is the fugitive he has 
once started if it escape 
the clutch of his sharp 
talons. Well have both 
these rascals earned the 
name “ chicken hawk,” 
for both of them 
are true hardened 
thieves of the 
barn-yard, and do 
not hesitate to snatch a pullet from under 
the very nose of the irate farmer — and 
even to return in the afternoon of the same 
day to repeat the robbery. 
Little can be said in their favor, but so 
sudden are their attacks and so rapid their 
flight, either in charge or retreat, that only 
now and then do they come to grief, while 
their sins are visited on their larger, more 
honest, and more stupid relatives. 
1 am sure that hawks enjoy bullying weaker 
birds, and that not infrequently they chase them 
about, so as to enjoy their fright and discomfit- 
FIG. 8. cooper’s-hawk. 
— important by reason of size and misdeeds: 
the Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks. 
Fig. 8.— The old male Cooper’s Hawk is 
FIG. 9. SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 
