With a chicken for a prize, a battle royal was waged by a hawk and a snake along the banks of the Juniata at Covedale yesterday. It was witnessed by Walter C. Wynekoop, of Altoona, and he says he never saw a fight so fierce.
    Wynekoop was fishing, and, while waiting for a "bite," his attention was directed to a commotion in a clump of bushes near by. He walked quietly near the spot to investigate. He found the snake in possession of a spring chicken, but the meal was disturbed by the hawk, which evidently also had designs on the dainty meat.
    Circling around the reptile and the chicken the hawk would fly close enough to snag the snake's body with its beak. Once it flew too close, and, quick as a flash, the snake struck it, knocking it to the ground.
    With its beak and claws the bird fought, while the snake wrapped its coils around it. It seemed an hour, but it was only fifteen minutes, when, in a last desperate effort, the hawk sank its talons into the snake's throat and the battle ended.
    Freeing itself, the bird seized the prize and flew away to enjoy it. The snake measured 5 feet 1 inch.

Source:

Unknown, "Hawk Kills a Snake," The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., Monday, 1 August 1910, p. 6.