14 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 



Photo by R. B. Rockwell. 

 DICK, 

 who swooped down at me uttering angry screams and chattering all 

 the while. 



I reached into the hole and caught three of the young ones, but the 

 other one escaped and flew off down the canyon accompanied by its 

 mother. I then put the birds into my hat and carried them to the 

 cabin where I placed them in a box in the wagon and started for home 

 some 20 miles distant. 



Upon our arrival home the birds were placed in a large cage and here 

 they remained for about three weeks. At first only the brightest one 

 (Tom) would eat grasshoppers. The other two (Dick and Harry) 

 would back up into a corner on my approach and present their beaks 

 and talons to anything that came their way. They soon became ciuite 

 tame and would take grasshoppers from my hand as fast as I could 

 supply them. Their capacity for consuming grasshoppers was 

 amazing. They never seemed to get enough. 



Catching grasshoppers for them was too tedious so I shot birds and 

 rabbits and caught lizarr'.s and mice for them. They seemed to be 

 partial to mice and sometimes would not stop to tear them to pieces 

 but would try to swallow them whole and consequently they often got 

 choked. A cottontail would only last them one day; so I think they 

 could consume their weight in meat in 24 hours. It was amusing to 



