HARD WICKE'S S CIENCE - G OS SI P. 



53 



and there disposed of at leisure ; but, on the con- 

 trary, if the bird or victim be too large and weighty 

 to be carried off, it is eaten on the spot on which it 

 happens to be killed. 



All birds alike are dreaded by this depredator. It 

 is even more feared than man ; and should one 

 appear in sight when a flock of ducks or other 

 aquatic birds are enjoying themselves on the surface 

 of some lake, instead of instantly taking flight, as 

 they certainly would if the intruder were a man, 

 they all disappear as if by magic, instinctively 

 knowing that if they take to flight some of them are 

 sure to fall victims. As the Falcon cannot procure 

 them while they are on the water, it tries to compel 



The Peregrine is not found in Australia ; but there 

 is a species very similar, which Gould says is quite 

 distinct from it. It is called the Black-cheeked Falcon 

 {Falco inelanogeiiys). This is quite as bold as our 

 Peregrine, carrying off and attacking birds twice its 

 own size, and it is said to be quite a favourite with 

 the aborigines. In the United States and the whole 

 of North America there is a bird very similar to the 

 Peregrine ; so much so that many naturalists say they 

 are but local varieties. This is the far-famed Duck 

 Hawk {Falco Anatum) of the Prince of Canino, who 

 is one of the few who say this American hawk and 

 its European representative are distinct. I think so 

 too, for the following reasons. The American bird 



Fig. 43. Peregrine Falcon on the Wing. 



them to take to their wings, by performing gyrations 

 immediately over their heads, whenever they appear 

 above water ; thus gaining the desired result of so 

 terrifying them that at last some of them take flight, 

 when 'of course the Falcon follows in hot pursuit. 

 Sometimes, however, the ducks, instead of diving 

 and seeking safety on the water, all rise in a compact 

 body, and endeavour to procure safety by unity ; but 

 the Peregrine is not to be balked so easily, and soon 

 dashes at some outsider or straggler, and carries it off 

 in triumph. Birds pursued by the Peregrine will 

 often allow themselves to be taken by man rather 

 than fall in the clutches of their pursuer ; so great is 

 their terror of this courageous bird. 



is an inch or two the longest, besides being larger in 

 proportion. Again, Wilson says "that it permits 

 the duck to fall previous to securing it. The circum- 

 stance of the hawk's never cairying off the duck on 

 striking it, has given rise to the belief of that service 

 being performed by means of the breast, which vulgar 

 opinion has armed with a projecting bone, adapted to 

 the purpose." He says the hawk never carries off the 

 duck. Now its European ally, the Peregrine, is known 

 often to cany off birds equally heavy as a duck, if 

 not heavier. He says : "In the breeding season the 

 Duck Hawk retires to the recesses of the gloomy cedar 

 swamps, on the tall trees of which it constructs its 

 nest, and rears its young secure from all molestation." 



