Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1903-12-31

How = srosdwIns Was Taught to Eat
from the Hand.

We do not as rule look for gentle
ness In q hawk; every one who has
had much experience with birds OF
prey knows that a. q rule they are
savage and incorporating. With
bills and talons sharp and strong for
the very purpose OF dealing death to
the weaker creatures which serve
them as food, and with Wild. fierce
cries which reflect their savage. al
most untamable natures. they seem.
OF all birds. to be the very last from
which to expect kindness or a re-
Spouse to kindness. However, l know
OF at least one exception-the broad
winged hawk. whose gentle nature.
long known to ornithologists. have
lately had personal proof Of. If l be-
longed to the imaginative school
should be apt to believe that the
broad-winged hawk loathed his trade.
and that he hunted and killed from
sheer necessity. His mild little face
and his pathetic, almost beseeching
voice seem more in keeping with a
creature which is hunted than with
one which hunts, and 1t is sometimes
difficult for me to understand how he
can ever find it In his heart to strike
down q mouse or frog.
One day this summer a friend Of
mine found q nest OF fedgling hawks.
quietly took them away, and shipped
them to me that | might study their
habits for a while.
For about a month l kept them In
q large cage, some six feet long. with
a perch running from end to end.
They did not seem to take their con-
finement In bad part, though at times
they became rather uneasy, fitting
from one end of the perch to the 9TH
er, often skipping lightly over each
others backs in order TO do so. When
they were fed they showed little fear,
taking from my hand mice, grasshop-
pers, or raw beef, and usually carry
ing their food up on the perch to de-
your 1t. After the manner of hawks
In general, they held it firmly with
one or both feet and pulled it to pieces
with their hooked bills At all times
of the day they uttered their plain
tive whistles, which often half per-
suaded me to give them their liberty
before / had completed my observa-
tions. But / kept them until the end
of the month, and then l took them
from their temporary prison and
tossed them into the air, one after an
other. Two of them few away, and l
saw neither of these again for several
weeks, when a local gunner brought
in one of them, limp and cold; he had
shot 1t as 1t sat quietly in treetop.
The third bird refused to leave us.
He sat in an apple tree all the after
noon, and only towards night did he
fly off to q patch of woodland about
a quarter of mile from the house.
Thence we could hear his pathetic
"Che-e-e-e," which seemed to gently
protest against our unkindness in al
lowing him to be hungry. So my wife
went down on a fallen tree whistled
softly in imitation of his own voice.
In a moment he came to her side,
and although rayenously hungry took
the food as gently as a canary. From
that time has been a source of con-
tinual pleasure. After being fed a
few times In the wood, he soon learned
to come to the garden for his food,
and now whenever he is hungry he
flies to the roof and calls to us. We
try to respond at once, and when
we appear he flies down upon our
hands or shoulders to eat whatever
we may have for him. At first he was
quite nervous, and If a stranger APP
peared or if he heard any unusual
sound of any kind he was off to the
woods, to come back only after much
patient calling. But now no ordinary
sight or sound alarms him, and, al
though the quick turns of his head
show that nothing escapes him, he
will not fly away until he has finished
his meal. He spends most of his time
at some distance from the house, sit
ting quietly in a tree for hours at a
time. If we happen to want him when
he Is away, 1t is only necessary to
whistle An answering "Che-we-e-e-e"
tells us the summons has been heard,
and with series of whistles, sound
ing nearer and nearer. he comes sail
ing gracefully over the treetops to
the roof of the house. Then down
he pitches to an outstretched hand
and gently he takes whatever is Of
fered him. Apparently he is salts
fed with the food which is given him,
for / have not been able to observe
that he catches anything for himself.
How long he will stay with us re-
mains to be seen, but / am inclined
to think that, with his contented,
gentle disposition, he will stay until
the nesting season, unless some gun
ner sees him on his roost, and blows
him to bits as proof OF good marks
manship. Harold BayneS, in
New York Evening Post.
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