. Birds that hunt and are hunted; life histories of one hundred and seventy birds of prey, game birds and water fowls . ief haslearned to imitate to perfection. It is the red-tail, however, thatscreams most a-wing. Toward man the hen hawks are naturally shy, saysMinot; but it is generally easy to approach them when gorged,or at other times to do so in a vehicle or on horseback. Ona horse I have actually passed under one. They frequently leavetheir food when approached, instead of carrying it off in themanner of many hawks. Like other barbarians, they refuse toshow signs of suffering, or to all
. Birds that hunt and are hunted; life histories of one hundred and seventy birds of prey, game birds and water fowls . ief haslearned to imitate to perfection. It is the red-tail, however, thatscreams most a-wing. Toward man the hen hawks are naturally shy, saysMinot; but it is generally easy to approach them when gorged,or at other times to do so in a vehicle or on horseback. Ona horse I have actually passed under one. They frequently leavetheir food when approached, instead of carrying it off in themanner of many hawks. Like other barbarians, they refuse toshow signs of suffering, or to allow their spirit to becomesubdued. When shot and mortally wounded they usually sailon unconcernedly while their strength lasts, until obliged to not dead, they turn upon their rump, and fight till the last, likeothers of their tribe. Their eyes gleam savagely and they defendthemselves with both bill and talons. With these latter, ifincautiously treated, they can inflict severe wounds, and theysometimes seize a stick with such tenacity that I have seen onecarried half a mile through his persistent grasp. 320. RED-SHOULDERED :i Life-size. Kites, Hawks, Eagles, etc. The red-shouldered hawk spends most of its life perching,usually on some distended dead limb where, like an eagle inits dignity, it watches for mice and moles to creep through themeadow, chipmunks to run along stone walls, gophers andyoung rabbits to play about the edges of woods, frogs, snakes,etc., to move along the sluggish streams of low woodlands, itsfavorite hunting grounds. It is not shy, and when it perchesmay be quite closely approached and watched as it descends likea thunderbolt to strike its humble quarry, that is usually bornealoft to be devoured piecemeal. One never sees this hawkchasing a bird through the air as the tyrannical Coopers hawkdoes. In nesting habits there is no noteworthy difference fromthe red-tails, beyond that the eggs are a trifle smaller. Swainsons Hawk or Buzzard (Buteo
Size: 1506px × 1658px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., book, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectuplandgamebirds
