Its domicile
approaches the eagle's nest in form, is broad and shallow, and made of
sticks and twigs lined thinly with dried leaves, mosses, etc. A full-grown
female--which, as I told you once before, is always larger than the male
among birds of prey--measures about twenty-six inches with wings extended.
It is lead-colored above, and lighter beneath. You can easily recognize
this hawk by its short wings, long tail, and swift, irregular flight. One
moment it is high in the air, the next it disappears in the grass, having
seized the object of its pursuit. It is capable of surprisingly sudden
dashes, and its pursuit is so rapid that escape is wellnigh hopeless. It is
not daunted by obstacles. Mr. Audubon saw one dart into a thicket of
briers, strike and instantly kill a thrush, and emerge with it on the
opposite side. It often makes havoc among young chickens. One came every
day to a poultry-yard until it had carried off over twenty. It does not
hesitate to pounce down upon a chicken even in the farmer's presence; and
one, in a headlong pursuit, broke through the glass of a greenhouse, then
dashed through another glass partition, and was only brought up by a third.
Pigeons are also quite in its line. Indeed, it is a bold red-taloned
freebooter, and only condescends to insects and the smaller reptiles when
there are no little birds at hand. During the spring migration this hawk
is sometimes seen in large flocks.
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