The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-15
YANKEE BIRDS OF PREY.
THEY IRE MAKING THINGS LIVELF
~ I'O ULTRI ARDS I'D.
Welcome Mnln OF laurel Glen, Conn.,
brIngA Down n Bald IA rndcdl Eagle After
Many NiRhis of wntehinS-Biue Hawks
nnh Owls Keen the Shotguns Active.

" " bNVNp Wv ~
NoRwicu,. Nov. a. Connecticut sports
mon and farmers have had lively sport lately
bagging big birds thnt In most instan ces had
paid maraudIng calls, nrtcr dusk. to the farm
steads among the lonely hills. For about =
week. regularly, came u thief In the night or
at breaG OF dav I, the fowl house of Welcome
Main ut Laurel Glen, in tho wilds of North
Stonington, near the Rhode Island line. This
thief helped himself to the fattened hens and
puilcts there, and slipped away as mysteri-
ously as an old-time goblin.
Fancyirg that mis- visi or must he a wary
old coon or fox, or. at least, = deeply nrtful
skunk, the farmer sat Up late Mt his open
kitchen window for several nights. his breech-
loader across his knees, and the room da"k-
encd, until his toeth chartered with the frosty
air. but the kitchen clock ground oct the mid
night hour. whccZinE and chucklinP about
HE ~fruitless vigil, and the graveyard quiet OF
his poultry yard and Its environs was not in
terrupted. Mr.. Main nude q few pertinent
remarks in n low tone at the end OF his third
trial. nut up his gun. and stumbled of TO bed.
He slept a little later that night. Visiting
his farmynrd about an hour after dawn he
found the skeleton OF a fowl, freshly picked.
which, unquestionably, had been slain by
the elusive briGand while the farmer was reel
ing off his elongated morning snooze. Again
he spoke his opinion of the thief.
On the following night. with n scheme In his
head. The farmer went to bed about the time
HIS fowls scaled their perches, and arose at tho
same hour with them in the morning. He
stole out of his house noiselessly, and etum-
bling along the path to the barn, pseped over the
the farmyard wall into the enclosure. One
glance convinced him that the robber was
there; an immense fellow he seemed In the uns
certain light. and so busy nicking the bones
OF a hen in tho middle OF the yard that he had
nc eve for anything else. He appeared to be
AZ big and ferocinus as a condor to the excited
farmer, and akin to that bird In other re-
spects. With his talons planted in his prey,
and towering above II. he was ripping the fowl
into ribbons, and devouring It with a greedy,
clucking sound of his eavage beak.
Not caring to tackle the big fellow unarmed.e
Mr.. Main slipped noiselessly away from the
fnrmyard into the house, and was back again
IN a moment with his double-barrelled shit
gun, loaded for geese. But the bird he'd taken
alarm and shot up into tine air, the remnants
Of tho hen in his claws, with a spread Of PIN
ions that reminded Mr.. Main OF the balloon
ascension at the county fair this fall. ,
THE derned critter looked bigger'n a corn :
house." said the farmer later. in recountinR
his adventure. The hull hen warn't a drop
in Their bucket to him fur a lift, ef veil b'ieve
It; but about Their time he was skivin' side
ways. SOrIcT "aIleriu hlu slluIH ONtT bue
peak O. Their barn, I drawed a bead on him.
shut both eyes. and let go both barrels. They
was big shot and they told. He went over back
ward t-Chuck. as eli he'd run afoul of n church,
an down he came. end over end, wings spread
out like sails. carromed- on the barnyard wall,
an lit. PUNK in Their mud an on his back.
The chick was still nailed an spiked TO his
claws, or ruther what was left OF it-ther
framework ar underpinnin'. backbone. a tail
with %gristle."
Mr.. Main examined his prize. which was
nearly as big rs n wild goose. and unlike any
bird he had seen before. He dragged it into
the house, the remains OF the fowl still at
tached. and the neighbnrs came. Only one
man was able to name the bird correctly. He
said the farmers booty was a bald-headed
eagle. unusually big and formida ole. the only
bird OF the species that had been seen in North
Stonington IN fifteen or twenty years.
Eagles used to be plentiful in the Nutmeg
State, but it is rare that one is met with now
adays. Killing an American eagle is punish-
DIE with a fine of S25, but there were extenuat-
ing circumstances attending Mr.. Mains act.
which Il court might allow, although the Nut
meg law does not
At about dawn. in the same town. a day or
two earlier, the young son OF A. }. Main saw
n big brown bird slide from a great height in
the SKY. with the speed of a rocket, straight
as II lima, into his fathers yard. and nail n full
grown hen with his talons. The youth did
not Hesitate. lie darted into his house, caught
up his fathers shotgun. and reappearc1 in'tho
yard at Just about the moment the freebooter
WIS rising heavily with his victim above the
nigh farmyard wall. With his first shot young
Main plucked a double handful Of feathers of
the young robbers breast and back and set
him staggering and tioundering in midatr.
His second cartridge brought him to tho
ground !ifeless. HE prey still fast IN his tal-
ons. This bird was an immense blue hawk.
about rs big and powerful as n bald eagle, and
nearly as rare in this part OF New England.
Tho hawk was very heavy. and his tail was,
marked with stripes and colors like that of q
blue Jay.
Lewis r.. Hawkins OF Worcester. Mass. who
has been passing the season with Mr.. and Mrs.
Burnside Crandall Mt their home in the ham
let of Clark's Falls in North Stonington. while
stroiling about the premises one afternoon a
few days ago espiei a big bird sailing majcs--
tically high above the IranIRil homestead.
He fIpciod The bird WAS mt rely amusing
himself. and was not bent on business. Pres;
or two hung motioaless as n cloud in midsir;
then suddenly. with hardly II warming move
Crandail fowl yard the fellow went, and trans-
fixed with botn claws IA large non. The hen
died with barely a eqneaki and ,hereppon ths
who had not landed firearms before In thirty
years, got tho crandail gun, and with a single
shot dragged the thief. This bird. also, Was
a blue henhawk. finely marked aud strong, al
though a Young fellow. His spread of wing
was four feet from tin 10 in.
1t was a night robber that came several
times in succession, 10 the homestead Of Farm,
shoulders OF Walltns Hin, Among the foot
Hills or the Berkshire Mountains. Litchtield
county in lie nOrtu western part of tonnecti-
cur. That the thief was shy was nppnrcnt 20
Ryan AZ tho oursct. for do what h. might 10
c.icumycnt him. he Cnme and went as elusive
ly as II sprite. And on every one pI his noe
tu-nRl calls the rohber ate II hen, picking her
bones clean. Three rights successfully tho
farmer was awakened by an cutlery IA his
fow! house. hui each time when Mr.. tyan
arrived NJ hi, ~poultrv house the uprnar had
partly subsidized. the fowls were scattered about
the yard. and the rrhbcr was gone.
FINALLY. "a the farmer was hurrying to the
yard one night 20 snCc0" his sluawktng fowls
he saw the mHrandint bird suddenly leave tho
ground, bearing ava his preS. The man hal
looed and thrAslcl his arms violently, aud tho
freebooter in his alarm let fall n rooster. Mr..
Ryan Ind Il pretty fair we" on the invader.