Hawk

(Heb. netz, a word expressive of strong and rapid flight, and hence appropriate to the hawk). It is an unclean bird ( Leviticus 11:16 ; Deuteronomy 14:15 ). It is common in Syria and surrounding countries. The Hebrew word includes various species of Falconidae, with special reference perhaps to the kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), the hobby (Hypotriorchis subbuteo), and the lesser kestrel (Tin, Cenchris). The kestrel remains all the year in Palestine, but some ten or twelve other species are all migrants from the south. Of those summer visitors to Palestine special mention may be made of the Falco sacer and the Falco lanarius. (See NIGHT-HAWK.)

( Leviticus 11:16 ; 14:15 ; Job 39:26 ) The hawk includes various species of the Falconidae . With respect to the passage in Job (l.c.) which appears to allude to the migratory habits of hawks, it is curious to observe that of the ten or twelve lesser raptors (hawk tribe) of Palestine, nearly all are summer migrants. The kestrel remains all the year, but the others are all migrants from the south.

HAWK

hok (nets; hierax, and glaux; Latin Accipiter nisus):

A bird of prey of the genus accipiter. Large hawks were numerous in Palestine. The largest were 2 ft. long, have flat heads, hooked beaks, strong talons and eyes appearing the keenest and most comprehensive of any bird. They can sail the length or breadth of the Holy Land many times a day. It is a fact worth knowing that mist and clouds interfere with the vision of birds and they hide, and hungry and silent wait for fair weather, so you will see them sailing and soaring on clear days only. These large hawks and the glede are of eagle-like nature, nesting on Carmel and on the hills of Galilee, in large trees and on mountain crags. They flock near Beersheba, and live in untold numbers in the wilderness of the Dead Sea. They build a crude nest of sticks and twigs and carry most of the food alive to their young. Of course they were among the birds of prey that swarm over the fresh offal from slaughter and sacrifice. No bird steers with its tail in flight in a more pronounced manner than the hawk. These large birds are all-the-year residents, for which reason no doubt the people distinguished them from smaller families that migrated. They knew the kite that Isaiah mentioned in predicting the fall of Edom. With them the smaller, brighter-colored kestrels, that flocked over the rocky shores of the Dead Sea and over the ruins of deserted cities, seemed to be closest in appearance to the birds we include in the general term "falcon." Their ate mice, insects and small birds, but not carrion. The abomination lists of Leviticus 11:16 and Deuteronomy 14:15 each include hawks in a general term and specify several species as unfit for food. Job 39:26 reads:

"Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soareth,

And stretcheth her wings toward the south?"

Aside from calling attention to the miraculous flight,, this might refer to migration, or to the wonderful soaring exhibitions of these birds.

See GLEDE; KITE; NIGHT HAWK; FALCON.

Gene Stratton-Porter