Three Vneoiininm I'el.s. 2<Sl 



^■5 v), ill good heallli, and comlil ion, and arc licitiiiiiiiiL,'- to siuy. 

 Ill tlifir iiati\(' country they arc calUnl "Kini,'- oT tlic Woods." 

 In the Ar^'cnlinc no one sconis to know llic name of 

 llie birds, they are called " Cardinals," " Carpenlaries" " Sor- 

 cals," etc. I was in the country 'from March to tlie end ol 

 May, late summer and autumn, so the 1)irds were not 1)]'ecd- 

 iiig. though in May I saw an Oven bird cari'yiiig mud to its 

 nest'. 



Three Uncommon Pets. 



TilJ-: CiVH-FALCOX, Till': (HI P,r, AND THE 



CARACARA. 



By F. JJawson-Smith. 



From the large variety of carnivorous birds which I 

 liave kept, three occupy foremoot place^,, by reason of their 

 extreinc doi;ilily and sociability. These are tlie Gyr-Falcon,* 

 llie L'rubu, or lilack \'ulture and the Audubon's Caracara. The 

 lirst named is, without doubt, the noblest of the three, and 

 and a king among Falcons. Mine was the Icelandicf variety 

 {Faico islandus). I opened her travelling case, when she 

 arrived, with extreme caution, expecting a fierce, wild bird; 

 and was agreeably surprised to find a gentle creature sitting 

 on the perch, which she seemed in no hurry to vacate, merely 

 turning her head in order to watch my movements. She was 

 rather dirty in her plumage, which did not show to advantage 

 at first. For a fortnight I vainly waited for her to bathe 

 and cleanse herself, but she evinced no desire to do this, so, 

 with the courage, born of desperation, I decided to undei'- 

 take the cleansing job myself, (i lancing at her talons made 

 me dubiously wonder who would come through the ordeal 

 victorious. But I need not have feared. She i)roved most 

 obliging. I caught her easily, aiid sponged her with water, 

 with the result that she acquired a great liking for it, and, 

 afterwai'ds frequently splaslied happily in tiie l)ig shallow 

 bath, and developed into a glorious bird. She grew so ex- 

 ceedingly tame that she would allow mc to sit With my arm 

 round her — (I am, of course, referring to a bird!) — and she 

 never attempted to claw or bite. A bird or rat would always 

 tempt her, and she would run along the perches on the ground, 

 * Gyr-Falcon {/•'. ;////;/((/(v;.) f Icelandic Falcon (F. Ixhuitlnx.) 



