fishhawks

When I went away he would follow me, whistling, to my canoe; but he never called the fishhawks again, unless some unusual action of mine aroused his suspicion; and after one look they would circle away, as if they knew they had nothing to fear.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909

It brings the oriole back to the branch where still swings her exquisite purse-shaped home of last summer; it leads each pair of fishhawks to their particular cartload of sticks, to which a few more must be added each year; it hastens the wing beats of the sea-swallows northward to the beach which, ten months ago, was flecked with their eggs -- the shifting grains of sand their only nest.

The Log of the Sun A Chronicle of Nature's Year William Beebe 1919

There was only one enemy that ever seriously troubled the fishhawks; and he did it in as decent a sort of way as was possible under the circumstances.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909

When a big hawk came near, or when, on dark afternoons, a young owl took to hunting in the neighborhood, the jays sounded the alarm, and the fishhawks swept up from the lake on the instant.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909

Two days before, when I went down to another lake on an excursion after bigger trout, the young fishhawks were still standing on the nest, turning a deaf ear to all the old birds 'assurances that the time had come to use their big wings.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909

Whether Deedeeaskh were more concerned for his own young than for the young fishhawks I have no means of knowing.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909

Later, when he grew accustomed to things and the fishhawks 'generosity in providing a feast for all who might come in from the wilderness byways and hedges, he would come in boldly enough and claim his own; but now, moving stealthily about, halting and listening timidly, he furnished a study in animal rights that repaid in itself all the long hours of watching.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909

But the great fishhawks welcomed him, trusted him; and he responded nobly to the unusual confidence.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909

At first I went to the nest, not so much to study the fishhawks as to catch fleeting glimpses of a shy, wild life of the woods, which is hidden from most eyes.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909

Then Ismaques would mount up again and repeat his dizzy plunge, while his larger mate stood quiet in the spruce top, and the little fishhawks tiptoed about the edge of the nest, _pip-pipping_ their wonder and delight at their own papa's dazzling performance.

Wood Folk at School William Joseph Long 1909