A recent issue of The Shenandoah Valley-Herald (Oct 25) published a series of
reprints under the heading of "Yester Years" (page C4). Among them was the
following item from the "Shenandoah Valley" October 25, 1906: "Mr. A. J.
Fansler recently killed a chicken hawk that measured 3 feet and a [sic] 2
inches
from tip to tip and later Mr. J. H. Miller killed a chicken hawk that measured
3
feet tip to tip of wings."
Too bad I never got to see one of these now-extinct "chicken hawks!"
Thought you might find this interesting as a reflection on both changing
times and the changing definition of "news."
Along this line I remember when I was the Refuge Manager at Bitter Lake NWR
in New Mexico and I was reviewing old annual reports. I was reading one from
the late thirties and found a note stating that "two duck hawks were observed
on Bitter Lake and they were quickly dispatched."
Larry Kline
