HEN-HAWK, or CHICKEN-HAWK, is any kind of hawk that attacks
poultry or is supposed to do so. Two or three large buzzard hawks are popularly
so-called in the eastern United States, and at least two smaller falcons. In
the West, and in other parts of the English-speaking world, there are other
species of the same repute, more or less well deserved. In England, the analog
of the American marshhawk is known as "hen-harrier."
Certainly, everywhere kills much poultry where it is not
safely housed at night. In North America, the best-known hen hawks are the
broad-winged, red-tailed, and red-shouldered. They are comparatively harmless
to poultry, however, feeding mainly on squirrels, mice, frogs, etc. The
broad-wing (Buteo pennsylvanicus) is one of the most familiar of our hawks,
breeding numerously in the woods all over the country. It is 16 inches long,
with a tail of 7 inches, and a wing of 11 inches.
The upper parts are dull umber-brown, the tail almost black,
crossed by two to four pale brown bands; the lower parts are dull rufous brown,
nearly unbroken on the breast. It is rather sluggish in temperament, though
capable of swift and bold action, and feeds mainly on mice, but will now and
then seize young chickens, ducklings, etc. On the whole, as in the case of the
other buzzard-hawks, it is of more service than injury to the agriculturist.
The real culprits are two small, swift, agile falcons, Cooper's (Accipiter
cooperi), and the sharp-shin (A. velox).
The former is nearly two feet long, grayish-brown on the
upper parts and white below, with the sides and breast barred with dusky
red-brown and tail barred with blackish. The sharp-shin has much the same
colors, but is little more than half as large, and is further distinguished by
the triangular shape of the tarsus, giving it an edge in front. These bold and
active falcons live mainly on birds, and on farms prey largely on chickens and house
sparrows, compensating somewhat for the former by killing the latter. Consult
Fisher, 'Hawks and Owls of the United States'
