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R E D - S H O U L D E R E D H A W K.
FALCO LINEATUS, GMEL.
P L A T E L V I . MALE A N D F E M A L E .
ALTHOUGH we are informed that a skin of this species has long ago
been described in Europe, we are, in the same breath, told that nothing
is known of the life and habits of the individual on the body of which it
once shone in all its native glossiness. Nothing, kind reader :—the tarnished
coat only has been transmitted abroad ; and, like that belonging
to many equally interesting species of the feathered tribe, has been exposed
for sale in distant markets, where the purchaser has felt as little
concern about the life of the individual to which it belonged, as purchasers
of another kind usually feel about the former owners of the thread-bare
vestments which we see offered for sale by the old-clothes'-men of St Giles's.
Even Mr ALEXANDER WILSON himself, knew nothing respecting the
habits of this species; and as other authors, ranking equally high with
that pleasing writer, have unwittingly confounded it with another species,
known in the United States by the name of the Winter Hawk, it is with
satisfaction that I find myself in some degree qualified to give an account
of the differences of habit between the two species.
The Red-shouldered Hawk, or, as I would prefer calling it, the Redbreasted
Hawk, although dispersed over the greater part of the United
States, is rarely observed in the Middle Districts, where, on the contrary,
the Winter Falcon usually makes its appearance from the north, at the
approach of every autumn, and is of more common occurrence. Kentucky,
Tennessee, and other Western States, with the most Southern
Districts of our Union, are apparently best adapted for the constant residence
of the Red-shouldered Hawk, as in all these latter districts it is met
with in greater numbers than in any other.
This bird is one of the most noisy of its genus, during spring especially,
when it would be difficult to approach the skirts of woods bordering
a large plantation without hearing its discordant shrill notes, ka-hee, ka-hee,
as it is seen sailing in rapid circles at a very great elevation. Its ordinary
flight is even and protracted, excepting when it is describing the
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 297
circles just mentioned, when it often dives and gambols. It is a more
general inhabitant of the woods than most of our other species, particularly
during the summer, and in autumn and winter; now and then only, in early
spring, shewing itself in the open grounds, and about the vicinity of
small lakes, for the purpose of securing Red-winged Starlings and wounded
Ducks.
The interior of woods seems, as I have said, the fittest haunts for the
Red-shouldered Hawk. He sails through them a few yards above the
ground, and suddenly alights on the low branch of a tree, or the top of a
dead stump, from which he silently watches, in an erect posture, for the
appearance of squirrels, upon which he pounces directly and kills them
in an instant, afterwards devouring them on the ground. If accidentally
discovered, he essays to remove the squirrel, but finding this difficult, he
drags it partly through the air and partly along the ground, to some short
distance, until he conceives himself out of sight of the intruder, when he
again commences feeding. The eating of a whole squirrel, which this
bird often devours at one meal, so gorges it, that I have seen it in this
state almost unable to fly, and with such an extraordinary protuberance
on its breast as seemed very unnatural, and very injurious to the beauty
of form which the bird usually display s. On all occasions, such as I have
described, when the bird is so gorged, it is approached with the greatest
ease. On the contrary, when it is in want of food, it requires the greatest
caution to get within shooting distance of it.
At the approach of spring, this species begins to pair, and its flight is
accompanied with many circlings and zigzag motions, during which it
emits its shrill cries. The male is particularly noisy at this time. He
gives chase to all other Hawks, returns to the branch on which his mate
has chanced to perch, and caresses her. This happens about the beginning
of March. The spot adapted for a nest is already fixed upon, and
the fabric is half finished. The top of a tall tree appears to be preferred
by this Hawk, as I have found its nest more commonly placed there, not
far from the edges of woods bordering plantations. The nest is seated in
the forks of a large branch, towards its extremity, and is as bulky as that
of the Common Crow. It is formed externally of dry sticks and Spanish
moss, and is lined with withered grass and fibrous roots of different sorts,
arranged in a circular manner. The female usually lays four eggs, sometimes
five. They are of abroad oval form, granulated all over, pale blue,
faintly blotched with brownish-red at the smaller end.