BIRD LIFE IN WASHINGTON 
93 
size of an office desk. The piles were 
rough looking though. They looked like 
big piles of kindling wood. 
Occasionally an eagle flew to a neigh- 
*7 O 
boring tree screaming as he went; but 
most of the time they were almost niotoin- 
*y 
less. 
How dignified they looked sitting so 
long and so still on their lofty perch. Not 
a single move we made escaped those 
piercing eyes. 
We felt like rustics desecrating the pri¬ 
vate grounds of his Majesty the King. 
We rowed away with a wish that these 
fine old cliffs might he owned by these 
fine old birds for many a year to come. 
*y */ 
SPARROW HAWK 
Sparrow Hawk is as beneficial as 
Sharp-Shinned is harmful. He hovers 
over our meadows, eats grasshoppers, 
crickets and other insects, and never 
harms other birds. 
He is the smallest hawk we have. He 
has a rusty crown and coat, is blue on 
his sides, also on each side of his head. 
The ends of his tail feathers are black. 
He is apt to nest in some cavity in bank 
or tree. The mother bird lays from three 
*y 
to five brown spotted eggs. 
