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would emerge and, after looking about carefully to see 

 that the coast was clear, would fly out and look for tlie 

 Hawk. If he was still about the same game would 

 begin again and continue as long as he remained in the 

 neighbourhood. If the Hawk did uot respond readily to 

 the challenge the Magpies would become very daring, 

 and the risk seemed to possess a remarkable fascination 

 for them and, though always managing to escape, they 

 sometimes ran it very fane, and on one occasion the 

 chase was so close that the Hawk actually caught the 

 Magpie just as it reached the door and seemed to have 

 secured a final settlement of accounts with one of his 

 assailants, the victim however just managed to save its 

 life but left the whole of its tail in the talons of its 

 pursuer, and during the remainder of my stay cut a 

 grotesque figure flying about in a very erratic manner, 

 like a boat without a rudder. It was a curious per- 

 formance altogether on the part of the Hawks as well 

 as the Magpies. I do not think the Hawks ever 

 attempted to catch the Magpies except when persist- 

 ently provoked, apparently they could easily have 

 succeeded when the Magpies were some distance from 

 the friendly shelter of the barn, as they often were, 

 and the tailless one would have been an easy prey at 

 any time, their inclination was apparently to leave the 

 Magpies alone, but they evidently accepted the latters' 

 tactics as a challenge and resented it, and allowed 

 themselves to be provoked into activity against what 

 was presumably their better judgment, or at least their 

 instinct and inclination, but they did not appear to 

 harbour any lasting resentment, and their effort hav- 

 ing failed were content to leave the Magpies alone if 

 the latter would permit them. On the part of the 



