DUCK HAWK 55 



flies away with it. Larger birds it strikes with such terrific force as 

 to kill its victim instantly, or send it tumbling to the ground, whither 

 it descends to pluck and devour it. I believe that it always plucks 

 its bird, at least partially, before eating it. 



Allen and Knight (1913) say that "the Falcons never struck from 

 above, but waited until opposite the victim, when, with a quick semi- 

 inversion of the body, they fiercely struck the Swallow from the side. 

 At one time the Hawk was observed to strike from nearly below the 

 victim, so that an almost complete inversion was necessary." Dr. 

 Charles W. Townsend (1930) saw a female duck hawk strike in flight, 

 lull and carry off for 300 or 400 yards a lesser scaup duck. He also 

 writes, explaining another method of capture: "I was watching a 

 flock of Pectoral Sandpipers in the marsh when a Duck Hawk sud- 

 denly appeared and dashed into the startled flock which had jumped 

 and were flying in all directions. The hawk turned, flew back and 

 picked up a bird that it had struck down, and, without alighting, 

 carried it off in its talons. The act of striking was executed with 

 such speed that, although it took place within thirty yards of me, I 

 failed to see it and did not realize what had happened until the falcon 

 checked its impetuous career by banking and returned and picked 

 up its victim." 



Theed Pearse writes to me that he was watching wildfowl at sea 

 near Courtenay, Vancouver Island, "when a bird came out from the 

 shore flying at a great pace, not far above the surface of the water, 

 skimming it; the glasses showed the bird to be a male duck hawk. 

 I never saw a bird fly faster, and I lost sight of the bird for an instant, 

 and the next thing I saw with the glasses was the hawk over the water, 

 where one horned grebe was getting away as fast as possible and 

 another was floating dead, belly up. The live bird did not interest 

 the hawk, which swung around and swooped down, trying to pick 

 up its quarry; it did this half a dozen times; each time it swept around 

 to come at the dead bird up-wind; once it managed to lift the body 

 well out of the water but could not retain it. Unfortunately, I did 

 not see the actual strike by the hawk, but I think the hawk swept 

 along so close to the surface and at such a pace that it struck and 

 killed the grebe before the latter had time to dive, which it would 

 have done had it seen the hawk ; it seemed certain therefore that the 

 kill was made on the surface of the water." 



Duck hawks are especially fond of pigeons, living largely on them 

 in some of our large cities in winter. Audubon (1840) says: "For 

 several days I watched one of them that had taken a particular fancy 

 to some tame pigeons, to secure which it went so far as to enter their 

 house at one of the holes, seize a bird, and issue by another hole in 

 an instant, causing such terror among the rest as to render me fearful 

 that they would abandon the place." 



