Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-05-04
HATcHED OUT HAWKS EGGS.
A Citizen, Country Born, Recalls an
Experiment of His Youth.

A Citizen, Country Born, Recalls an
Experiment Of His Youth.
Just for the mischief Of the thing
and to see how she would act" said a
citizen up state born, II being then a
way back urchin Of inquiring mind, I
set pet bantam duck Of mine to
Matching out a couple Of hawk eggs.
Whether the experiment was a success
in it's results depends somewhat on
the way you look at it.
II purloined the eggs from the
hawks nest in an old dead tree back In
the Bald Hill woods when the old hawks
were off their job temporarily; but I
was intercepted by them before I got
down out Of the tree: They clawed and
clutched at me the fiercest kind, but I
got away with the eggs.
Il lost a yellow corduroy cap 1 was
wearing at the time, though. for 1t was
knocked off my head or was snatched
off by one Of the hawks-I don't know
which-and the old birds were making
II so warm for me that I didn't dare
stop long enough to recover the cap,
but journeyed out Of those woods and
home with the eggs as fast as my legs
would let me.
81 hadn't thought of setting the eggs
under the duck, but she was making a
great fuss to set on something or 9TH
er and so let her ease her longing with
the stolen hawk eggs. She went right
at the Job, and I got the old gun and
went back to rescue my yellow cordu-
roy cap, which was very fond of. The
hawks were nowhere to be seen when
/ got to the spot neither was the cap.
I supposed the hawks, having no other
way to revenge themselves, had car
ried the cap away with them. I came
home feeling sore.
1.-THE duck Matched eggs out all right,
but the sight Of the big-headed, big
eyed, big hook-billed, fierce looking
pair Of cutters she had brought into the
world gave her such scare that she
waddled away as fast as her short
legs would carry her, muttering all
sorts Of agitated duck talk. Only once
did she come back for a look at that
queer result of her incubation.
"She approached the nest slowly and
cautiously. At the sign Of her coming
both hawklings-there were only two
threw their big beaks open. They
were expecting something to eat.
1Ir t,,rn nd
never stopped until she got to the duck
pond, clear across the road. She
plunged into the pond, swan few
strokes and dived out Of sight. I don't
know whether she thought those brist-
ling critters were hard on her trail or
not, but she didn't come to the surface
until she was half way across the pond.
There she rested and looked back. AL
though she saw she was safe she new
er ventured closer to those hawklings
again than the edge Of the pond.
1.-THE experiment was bowling sue
cess so far as the fun Of 1t was con-
cerned anyhow, but had the hawks on
my hands. 1 could have killed 'em Of
course, and that's what I would have
done, but l thought maybe 1t would be
nice to have a couple Of live hawks In
captivity and 1 concluded I would raise
them.
"One of them died very young. The
other one thrived and grew to be fine
specimen of a hen hawk under my
care, and l used to go out and look at
him in the big cage kept him in, fas-
tened to a post in the back yard, and
feel proud.
Zone day along in July there. came
up a gale that tore the hawk cage from
It's fastenings on the post and my hawk
escaped. He flew to the dead limb of
a tall tree down back of the barn.
He sat there looking so lonesome
and sorry that l scorned a suggestion
my folks made about taking the gun
and making a sure enough good hawk
of him by killing him and went and
rugged his cage up again and put some
nice chopped beef in 1t, believing that
he would return to his old home. II
didn't know hawks.