Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-12-02

~
just like Miss Lollipop!
La Touchc Hancock.
The Broad Winged Hawk.
! We do not rs a rule, look for gentle
ness in hawk; everyone who has had
much experience with birds of prey
knows that, as a rule, they are savage
and uncompromising. With bills and
talons sharp and strong for the very pur-
| pose of dealing death to the weaker crea-
lures which serve them as food and with
wild, fierce cries which reflect their say
age. almost untamable natures, they seem
/ OF all birds, TO be the very last from
| which to expect kindness or a response
% kindness.
] However. know of at least one excep
tion-the broad winged hawk, of whose
gentle nature, long known to ornitholo-
glsts. l have lately had personal proof.
II belonged to the imaginative school.
| should be apt to believe that the broad
winged hawk Ioathed his trade, and that
! he hunted and killed from sheer necessl-
ty. His mild little face and his pathetic,
almost heseeching voice seem more in
Keeping with a creature which is hunted
than with one which hunts, and it. is
sometimes difficult for ME to understand
| how he can ever find it in his heart to
strike down mouse or frog.
Last April friend of mine was walk
! ing along the edge of wood i'll Penn
syivania when he saw a pair of broad
winged hawks sailing gracefully above
the tree tops. Sometimes, as they wheeled
he caught glimpses of their dark, gray
ish brown backs. but most of the time all
! he could see even with his field glass,
were the whtis,l breasts, barred with
brown, and the half transparent tails,
! with two white bars.
After wheeling in circles for a time
they presently dropped down into the
called to each other back aud forth,
"Che-we-e-e-e,' said one. and then, after
a pause came the plaintive answer. Che
we-e-e-e,' and they kept up this sad con
versation until my friend became tired
| of listening to it and walked away.
a few days later he was in the same
wood and discovered in a rather small
tree a nest of sticks. about % feet from
the ground. He ascended to the nest,
which had been built close i'll the stem
of the tree, and found upon a lining of
moss, two whitish eggs, spotted and
blotched with brown. They were nearly
: inches in length, and We're evidently
the property of Il pair of broad winged
| hawks; probably the very pair he had
seen in that vicinity less than Il week
before. SO he came down, leaving the
nest undisturbed.
After that he visited the wood about
once a week, and usually found one of
the old birds on the nest Sometimes II
was the male, and sometimes the female,
for both birds seemed to have equal re-
sponsibilities. They paid no attention to
their visitor, who walked about under
the tree, gazing at the barred breast
and tail of whichever bird happened to
be sitting at the time.
One day he came and found both birds
away, and ascending the tree saw three
down young hawks. For weeks the par
ent birds fed these helpless nestlings.
catching large insects. frogs, mice and
many other small creatures to stay their
hunger. By and by the fiedglings were
ready to leave the nest, and my friend
quietly took them away and shipped
its for while.
For about month | kept them in a
cage about six feet long, with a perch
running from end to end. They did not
seem to. take their confinement in bad
part, though at times they became rather
uneasy, fitting from one end of the
perch to the other. often skipping lightly
over each others backs in order to do so.
When they were fed they showed little
lear, taking from my hand mice, grass
ing their food up on the perch to de-
YOUR it. 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 plaintive whistles.
which often half persuaded me to give
them their liberty before had completed
my observations But | kept them until
the end of the month and then I took
them INTO the air. one after another.
Two OF them flew away and / saw
neither of them again for several weeks,
when a local gunner brought in one of
! them, Imp and cold; he had shot it as
It sat quietly on treetop. The third
pro refused to leave u.s. He sat in an
apple tree all afternoon and only toward
night did he fly off to a patch of woodland
aDout quarter of mile from the house
Thence we could hear his pathetic "Che-
W-e.e-e, which seemed to gently protest
against our unkindness in allowing him
TO be hungry. SO my wife went ont to
the woods with some food, and, sitting
on fallen tree, whistled softly in im-
tatlon OF his own voice. In moment he
| came to her side and, although ravenous-
~ hungry, took the food gently as
canary.
From that time he has been source
OF continual pleasure. After being fed
few times in the wood he soon learned
10 come into the garden for his food and
now now whenever he is hungry he flies TO
spend at once, and when we appear he
mes down upon our hands or shoulders
70 eat Whatver we may have for him.
AT nrst he was quite nervous. and If
stranger appeared or if he heard any un-
usual sound of any kind he was off to the
tMcods, to come back only after much pa
tlent calling. But now no ordinary sight
! or sound alarms him, and, although the
/ quick turn Of his head shows that moth
| ing escapes him he will not fly away until
he has finished his meal.
lie spends most Of his time at some dis.
lance from the house, sitting quietly in
tree for hours at a time. If we happen
TO want him when he is away, it is only
necessary to whistle. An answering ssChe-
Te-e-e" tells us the summons has been
heard and with a series of whistles,
sounding nearer and nearer, he comes
SAILING gracefully over the treetops to
the roof of the house. Then down he
pitches to an outstretched hand, and gem
! thy he takes whatever is offered him. APP