o be constructed, and covered with gems; the
overspreading sea to be of emeralds, and the kingdoms of the world to be
distinguished by jewels of different color.

WINGED FREEBOOTERS.

The great goshawk, a bird in a coat of blackish-brown covered with
blotches of black and reddish-white, is a terrible enemy to wild
rabbits, hares, and squirrels, and to all the small feathered
inhabitants of field and forest. It is about two feet long, and although
it is not a bird of very rapid flight, its cunning and strength are such
that its prey rarely escapes. Should the terrified hare hide itself in
some thicket, the goshawk patiently perches on an elevated branch near
at hand, where it will wait hours, motionless, until the poor hare,
thinking its enemy departed, ventures from its retreat, when in an
instant it is swooped down upon, and struck dying to the ground.

Goshawks are found in the Middle and Western States during the autumn
and winter. In the summer they go far to the northward to rear their
young. They build a large nest of twigs and coarse grasses on some lofty
branch of a tree, and lay three or four eggs of dull bluish-white
slightly spotted with reddish-brown.

These savage birds are very common in Maine, where they make great havoc
among the flocks of wild-ducks and Canada grouse, and will even, when
driven by hunger, venture an attack on the fowls of the farm-yard. Its
sharp eye always gleaming and on the alert, the goshawk sweeps over
fields and woods, changing its course in an instant by a slight movement
of its rudder-like tail whenever any desired prey is sighted. It is the
most restless of birds, and is almost constantly on the wing, seldom
alighting except for breakfast and dinner.

Audubon relates a curious instance of sagacity in a goshawk, which he
himself witnessed. A large flock of blackbirds flying over a pond were
pursued by one of these birds, which, dashing into the flock, seized one
after the other of the poor little victims, apparently squeezing each
one with its powerful talons, and then allowing it to drop on the
surface of the water. Five or six had been captured before the fleeing
blackbirds gained the shelter of a thick forest. The goshawk then swept
leisurely back, and with graceful curves descended to the pond and
collected its victims, taking the dead birds one by one and carrying
them away as if laying up a store for its evening meal.

[Illustration: A DASH FOR LIFE.]

Inst