998 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NA TURAL HISTOR Y SOCIETY, Vol. XIX. 



reasoning power. Her natural impulse was to go off either with her parents or 

 on her own and enjoy to the full her newly acquii-ed powers of flight, and 

 hunt for herself, but when she found she could not catch anything, and more- 

 over got badly knocked about by her parents and was not so strong on the'wing 

 as she thought herself, she decided to return to the place where she had never 

 gone to bed hungry, nor been ill-treated. Surely this shows a certain amount 

 of intelligence. She knows my dogs and says nothing to them, but let a 

 stranger dog appear and I have some difficulty in keeping her from going for it, 

 and so long as the dog is in view, she does nothing but bait. 



When first I taught her to come to the lure and gave her food on the 

 ground, I had to be verj' cautious in all my deahngs with her, and once she 

 got her talons into her prey, I had to be very careful how I approached, for 

 one foot invariably shot out and grabbed my gauntlet, while the 

 other held on to the crow. She seemingly feared my taking it away 

 from her and resented my even coming near. Now she permits me to handle 

 her freely, even when feeding, and in the case of a bird, allows me to help her 

 pluck the feathers and twist it and turn it about for her. It was instinct that 

 first taught her to protect her property, and I took a photograph to show the 

 way she covered up her food with her wings, and I hope to get another one 

 taken as soon as p'ssible to show the difference in her demeanour now when 

 feeding. She must have reasoned it out and said to herself " There is no point 

 about my hiding my food from this man, he does not try to take it from me, 

 and moreover helps me to pluck the featliers, so I will let him handle my prey." 

 Crows mobbing an eagle, generally take good care to keep well above him, but 

 the moment the eagle happens to get above them, they very soon make tracks 

 for the nearest scrub. Of course I allude to the huntiig eagles, such as the 

 Golden, the Bonellis or the various species of isjnzueti and not to the 

 Impeiial and Tawny and other carrion feeders which could not catch a crow 

 under any circumstances. The ciows know they aie perfectly safe whUe above 

 the eagle and moreover can rise as quick, if not quicker than he can. They 

 would not dare to mob a peregrine falcon out in the open. 



If any body wishes to try the exf)eriment, go to a place near any river 

 where crows are in the habit of roosting, and watch the place 3 or 4 days in 

 succession. The moment an eagle comes along, and Bonellis eagles, frequently 

 pay late visits to these corvine colonies, up will rise hundreds of them and 

 mob him. A Peregrine comes along later and every ciow will go belter skelter 

 for all lie is worth. Yet why ? Both are enemies and both have come there 

 for the same purpose, riz., to catch a crow for his dinner, so why not 

 run from both, or attack both? Is it instinct that has taught them, that 

 one is much heavier and slower in rising than the other, and they can 

 afford to play tricks with the one, which they would not dare with the 

 other? 



^ n eagle that has come down to a bait without the slightest hesitation the 

 first time, and been caught in a net and escaped, will never be so caught again 



