160 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



been thus molested, and many a s:ood flier has sucenmbed to the 

 spoiler. A quail-hawk has remained about the neicchbourhood for 

 ten days or a fortnight, that is. till lie has exhausted the patience 

 and forliearanee of some plundered poultry keeper. Probably 

 in that time four or five pigeons have been struck down." 



Having- firmly secured its spoil, the quail-hawk will not readily 

 let it go. It is recorded that, at a cattle muster in the Upper 

 Ashburton district on one occasion, a female bird was seen with 

 a tui trussed in her talons. An attempt was made to make the 

 hawk drop the snudler bird, but without success. Neither stones 

 nor the loud report of a stockwhip had any effect, and the hawk 

 flew a long distance without a rest, still holding its prey. The 

 male bird soared boldly in company, keeping watch over his 

 companion and her precious freight. The hawk has been seen 

 to attack seagulls in IMilford Sound and Preservation Inlet, and 

 quail and wood hens often fall before the dreadful tyrant of the 

 air. A wood hen which was picked up at its last gasp showed 

 that the fatal stroke had been dealt on the head and neck, from 

 which only a few feathers had been displaced. 



It is thought that the hawk's pursuit after different species of 

 birds must call forth entirely different tactics and methods. The 

 chase after the noisy, screaming kaka, often wheeling in its 

 laboured flight, turning upwards its strong beak and claws in 

 attempts to ward off the impending stroke, must differ from the 

 chase after the silent, strong-winged pigeon, and each of these 

 must be different from the method of attacking a parrakeet. 



Nicety of calculation in regard to the force of the stroke and 

 neatness of execution are said to be displayed at their best when 

 the hawk picks oft' a kingfisher while it sits on a telegraph wire. 

 An observer has seen the wary kingfisher, discarding its 

 accustomed shyness, save itself by clashing, with a wild shriek of 

 terror, amongst a party walking round a garden, its baffled 

 enemy coolly rising above the close-set shrubs and sailing off 

 deliberately towards a good look-out station on the bare, 

 spreading limb of a lofty tree. 



The Australian magpie has been known to defend itself against 

 a hawk's attack by throwing itself on its back on the ground, 



