If a story told in the Telegrapk, and related in
the Evening Standard on different authority is correct, hawks can hardly be machines. It is stated that in eastern France and the north of England, hawks have noticed that the railway trains "put up" coveys of birds as they rush on, the birds, like
untrained animals, being startled by the noise. The hawks, therefore, fly after the trains, and when the birds have risen in alarm, pounce upon their prey, and then fly after the train again.. If that story is true—and of course, it needs precise verification—hawks, or at least some highly acute hawks, have noticed that a train frightens small birds, have observed that the fright is needless—else the hawks would be frightened themselves—and have drawn the deduction that any train will frighten any birds. Could a keeper have reasoned better? Do small birds, however, always rise on the approach of a train. We fancy we have watched them from an express, sitting on the telegraph-wires, in easy-minded contem- plation; but they may, if on the ground, dislike the trembling caused by the passage of the train.
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