VIII 

 HAWKS IN MINIATURE 



EVEN as the earth is overrun by dacoits, 

 robbers, and highwaymen in all places 

 where the arm of the law is not far-reaching 

 and hard-striking, so is the air infested with 

 bandits. These feathered marauders fall into three 

 classes, according to the magnitude of their quarry. 

 There are, first, the eagles, falcons, and hawks, 

 which attack creatures of considerable size. Then 

 follow the shrikes or butcher-birds — pocket editions 

 of the raptores — which prey upon the small fry among 

 reptiles, mammals, and birds, also upon the larger 

 insects. Lastly come the fly-catchers, which content 

 themselves with microscopic booty, with trifles that 

 the larger birds of prey do not deem worthy of notice. 

 These last are able to swallow their victims bodily. 

 Not so the shrikes and birds of prey, whose quarry has 

 to be devoured piecemeal, to be captured, killed, then 

 torn to pieces. 



Similarity of calling not infrequently engenders 

 similarity of appearance. Swifts and swallows afford 

 a striking instance of this. AHke externally, they are 

 widely separated morphologically. So is it with the 



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