DUCK HAWK 57 



was far from steady, and twice it paused in the air for an appreciable 

 moment, but on the whole it approached over the mountain, and I 

 began to suspect that part of it was the duck hawk. Suddenly there 

 was another short tussle, lasting hardly longer than the twinkling of 

 an eye; and from it emerged two recognizable shapes, a black and 

 very dead crow underneath and to the rear, its head and wings hang- 

 ing limply, and a very lively duck hawk ahead and on top. With 

 no more effort than he would display to carry a sparrow, with speed 

 diminished not a whit, the falcon winged out over the valley at a level 

 height, banked sharply down wind until he faced the cliff, half-shut 

 his wings to his body, and came down like a thunderbolt — one long, 

 smooth, magnificent swoop that carried him well below his intended 

 perch, then up again with unbelievable speed until he checked himself 

 against the very face of the cliff, tossed his prize on a feeding shelf, 

 and in the same instant lit beside it. For several minutes he stood 

 at the edge, surveying the world with obvious triumph, then turned, 

 took an awkward step or two, and went to work plucking feathers. 

 Almost immediately he stepped up on the crow, and I could see him 

 tearing off great bites from between his feet — now his head was 

 lowered to take a grip, now he was standing straight up with neck 

 extended, pulling the warm, red flesh with savage gusto — bobbing up 

 and down, feathers flying. For 26 minutes he tore and gulped before 

 finally leaving the shelf." 



He describes the capturing of a pigeon as follows: "The pigeon had 

 been flying level and at top speed; the falcon had been descending 

 slightly, with continuous, strong, rapid wing-beats, and was moving 

 at least twice as fast as the pigeon, so that the gap between them 

 closed with inexorable speed ; in the instant before the strike, the 

 falcon had arrived at a point perhaps 12 feet behind the pigeon and 

 a foot below it, when she suddenly changed direction, extended her 

 talons, shot up across the pigeon's back, and, at the moment of 

 passing, grappled her prey, apparently by the body just behind the 

 wings, so that the two birds swept on as one, without the least per- 

 ceptible pause. One instant the pigeon was flying desperately; the 

 very next, it hung a limp bundle, with drooping wings and neck, in 

 the talons of its terrible pursuer." 



Ordinarily, when bringing food to the female, the male flies up to 

 the cliff, carrying the bird in his talons, she flies out to meet him, he 

 drops the bird, and she catches it in midair in her talons. Mr. Hagar 

 describes two different methods of transferring the prey, as follows: 

 "The male brought a small bird, not larger than sparrow size. As he 

 flew past the cliff, he dexterously transferred it from his feet to his 

 bill — the female came off the nest, flew under the male, giving the 

 feeding call— he dropped the bird and she caught it in her bill before 



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