Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-10-11
CURIOUS HABIT OF THE HAWK,
He Sails into n w~htrIwtnd and Gyrates
Up HesvenWard. and hen
Sails Back Again.

A student Of nature. MIA. p. Waddle, sends
us a very beautisully-written account OF an
observation he made In the habits OF the
hawk. He tells The tale himself so gracefully
that we would not mar II By any retouches OF
ours.
On a clear, hot, sultry evening IN August, a
small whirlwind, peculiar 70 dry weather,
passed within nny yards or me. As II crossed
the road before me. u kicked up q big dust,
and then, passing slowly across q fence into a
corn-held, II tore the dry fodder Of the corn
was a very strong upward current in the CEN
ter Of this Inverted aerial maelstrom, evil
denced by the blades Of fodder shooting up
ward ike arrows ~ high as the trees close by,
and then becoming checked in their upward
flight, only by get Ing cut OF the central
current. While was looking on this infant
tornado, a hawk, which would have measured
about two feet from tip 10 tip, sallied out from
an adjacent grove, and pitched In among the
fodder, leaves and grass, which we're whtriing
around in a circle. At nrst l had the thought
that It was seeking something with which to
MI its crop, but soon found that | was mis-
taken. II Joined the whiri, and soon Yeered
around into the central current, and as IT
did so 1 found that It was moving swiftly up
ward and seemingly without EFFORT.
kept my eye on ii, and saw II rise rapidly,
grandly upward, until II soon appeared a. a
mere speck In the distance. II remained ap-
parently almost motiOnless for the space OF
about one minute, when l saw that 1t was de-
~scending-at first slowly, but with ecceie-
rating speed. Soon IL come near enough for
me 10 see hat its wings we're folded, aud that
II was literally falling breastifOremost. Atthe
hight Of about one hundred yards, IL spread
its pinions and, checking IT'S rapid descent,
waited itself into the top OF the oak which It
had left a few minute before. Rejecting on
this interesting maneuvre OF the hawk, / con-
cluded hat he, like many old cOrpulencies Of
the genus homo, with nothing else to do, had
been lolling around all the hot day, In his
sylvan halls and pOrticOes, with vest and col
lar thrown open, seeking in the coolest hooks
for a breath of fresh air, in vain. That, from
an uneasy and Undertaking doEe, into which
he has fallen, he is awakened by the whistle
OF this upward-bound train. That he gladly
embraces this opportune opportunity OF
being waited where he can battle his piumage
and himself in the thunder's home, where
frost and snow would live forever, II they
had a foothold to rest upon. He boards the
train, and OH how delightful must have been
that ride upward; how delicious must have
been that invigorating bath far above the
heat and dust OF earth2 And how thrilingly
exquisite must have been the ride home
ward when he closed his wings (Rnd perhaps
his eyes) and fell back TO earth.
Here Is a question for nRturalists to decide.
Is riding on the whirlwind an instructive
OF the hswk? We are taught that brutes,
birds, etc.. are born into ali the knowledge
they ever possess, that they gain nothing by
experience. II this Is a habit Of the hawk
never learned IL before.