166 WILD LIFE IN CHINA, 



a marvellous contest in ascending grace. Each bird strives 

 to outdo the other in the circling ascension. The falcon wins 

 in the end, but even then the victory is not so easy as if the 

 quarry were a partridge or a heron. The kite has as ugly a 

 beak and claws as the falcon himself. He is moreover gifted 

 with fairly good dodging powers when close pressed, and so 

 there is usuallj^ more or less of a fight in mid-air before the 

 superior bird brings its still struggling prey to the ground. 

 It is said that kites seem to recognize the saker as their 

 especial enemy, taking no notice of other falcons. In 

 northern China the saker is flown at pheasants and other 

 game birds, hares, and sometimes foxes. 



The Goshawk (Falco or Astur paliiinhariiis) differs 

 from the true falcons in not having the notched bill. He 

 differs, too, in his manner of attack and "rakes" his quarry 

 instead of "stooping" at it, that is to say, he follows it at 

 practically the same level as the bird that is pursued. His 

 name shows one of his old uses, the pursuit of the wild 

 goose. At a distance he might well be taken for a peregrine 

 by such as are not familiar with slight variations in flighty 

 but at close quarters it would be seen that the under markings, 

 of the goshawk are lighter in colour, and the transverse 

 bars finer than those in the peregrine. The ground colour 

 too is practically white whilst that of the peregrine is alight 

 golden brown. The Chinese use the goshawk for the capture 

 of game much as they do the saker. Its general habits in 

 the wild state very much resemble those of the sparrow- 

 hawk, to which, except in size, it is frequently likened. It is 

 not by any means as swift on the wing as the falcons proper, 

 and is given rather to tiring down its prey then to capturing 

 it instanter. Partridges, grouse, etc. are started and marked 

 down, to be flushed again and again, until at last the covey 

 is completely worn out, and the goshawk finds it easy to kill 

 as many as he may need. It is the shorter primaries and 

 consequent loss of wing power which call for tactics 

 of this sort. 



When we come to the Hobby (F. siihbtifeo), we find a 

 bird which, compared with the goshawk for speed, is like an 

 express train compared with a wheelbarrow. Nobody knows 

 exactly what a hobby can really do when put to it, but 

 the fact, already referred to, that he is able with ease to 

 capture swifts on the wing, serves to suggest that 200 miles 

 an hour, and perhaps more, is within the power of his 

 marvellous pinions. He is one of the smaller falcons, 

 comparable with the sparrow-hawk or the merlin, and may 

 be recognized by the tinge of slaty blue which ornaments his 

 back, wings, and tail. His under parts are of a buff^ brown 

 colour, the dark markings being bolder, fewer in number, and 



