The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-07-18

upon It,. and without stopping III Ms
flight, and with wings tapping furious
~ enough, bang goes the report of the
breaking of the rotten limb, and trium
phantly the feathered wonder carries t(
the nest the stick, sometimes four men
es in diameter and four and one-hal1
feet long. Although as rule the blrdS
break off the limbs a the tlrSt attempt
they have been seen to try the opera
ton on the same stick two ana three
times before being successful. In CASE
the stick is not broken off the iirst time
they do not lose their hold, but un
ceasingly flap their broad wings in the
air, eXhausting every measure toward
accomplishing their purpose.
Ordinarily their bodies are not SO
| heavy as to cause one to suspect that
they could break off such stout pieces OF
| boughs, but the momentum carried In
their flight as they book on to the limb
| without stopping almost invariably
| causes their efforts to be crowned with
success. The loud swapping noise of
| the breaking of tree branches by the
| hawks would lead a person not accus-
| toned to their habits to suppose that an
| elephant was running amuck through
| the forest
| OF about four feet in width and of a
| very compact structure, the nests can
withstand the fury of severe storms.
| The fabric is so woven and bound crisis
| cross fashion that cases have been
| known of the nests remaining intact
| even after the wind felled the tree or
| pole and threw the nest violently to the
ground. A severe storm blew down a
| fish hawks nest at Warren a year ago,
| leaving the nest bottom up, 1t was
discovered several days later, with
three young dead birds inside, Being
imprisoned they had died Of hunger
The inner edges of the nests are woven
with light sticks, cornstalks pieces Of
cloth and dried seaweed.
The fish, hawk lives to good age.
On one of the eastern Rhode Island
headlands Mr.. Anthony tells of an in
cident that happened twenty years ago
near his home A male tlSh-haWk was
brought to the ground by gun IN the
hands of boy.Mr Anthony cared for
the wounded bird in his barn, picking
out grains of shot and stopping the
flow of blood. All the time the hawk
fought him with its uninjured wing.
In months time the wound had com
petely healed and the bird had become
quite tame. 1t would not eat anything
but fish, however The wounded wing
was stiff when the bird was given it's
freedom, and the popularity of this
stiff wing is noted every season by Mr.
Anthorn in bird that locates near his
home. He is confident that it is the
irJ bot Ut
twenty years ago,
The watchfulness of the fish-hawks
over their nests before the young leave
the shell is great boon to other small
err birds. A singular, trait In the char
acter of the osprey i, its liberation Of
sparrows, crow-black- birds and grac-
kles to build their nests in among the
outer sticks of which It's own nest is
constructed. Like vassals to a chief,
these smaller birds lay eggs and hatch
them in perfect security, and In mutual
harmony with the larger feathered
creatures. Often there are from TWEEN
ty to thirty nests of small birds in the
rounded outer sides of the fish hawks
nest. From long acquaintance with the
fish-hawk the sparrows and crow
blackbirds have no fear of them, and
they have learned that as the fish-hawk
during incubation constantly is on
guard, their nests are doubly secure
from feathered intruders and from the
inroads of the common crow, the bird
that they most fear when their nests
contain eggs. a.
When the young fish-hawks come
forth from the she'll the constant guard
of the nest by male and female is
gradually relaxed The female leaves
the nest a intervals in quest of food
soon flying back with a fish caught in
harbor or bay. A noticeable feature
about the mother hawk is her made of
feeding the young. Returning with
shad or porgie when the young are only
a few days old, the mother bird tears
the fish in pieces with her claws and
Dill. giving "a strip to each young bird,
When the birds become a week old, or
about that age, and thereafter during
the season, whole fish is given to each
young fish-hawk by its mother. 1t is
to watch the young hawks
when they are fed They will cry for
food when hungry, but, unlike the pro-
geny of all other feathered brides and
land animals, they will not fight for
food. The mother bird selects the
young one to which she will give a fish.
The rest of them remain sitting beside !
their more fortunate companion in the
nest hut beyond uttering plaintive
cries make no effort to get part of the |
fish for themselves, simply waiting in !
patience until their turn comes, which |
circumstance may prolong for quite |
length of time. The young birds catch |
no fish the first year of their livts. |
Their food is procured by the parents |
AS soon as the young brood become
few weeks old the mother throws off |
quite piece of the top of the nest to
the ground This enables the young to
see their surroundings, and less obsta-
lies are in the way when they first |
make attempts to fly.
The young birds do not take readily
% flight. They are fully feathered and |
vet make no attempt to leave the nest.
Generally their initial attempts to rise
on wing are begun about July 10. Fly
ng up from the nest they fall back
lpon 1T again from a height Of about
i've feet. They make attempts in turn,
with like results. The young hawks
Ire very timid about flying away from
he nests, and it devolves upon the pa
'ents to drive the young forcibly off in
order that they can fly. Great is the
-frC h i,,fr n,,I