Hawks and Owls. 43 



Diunml birds of prey, which are for purposes of this article 

 iuchided under the rough and inaccurate term Hawks, may ])e 

 divided into three main groups — Vultures, Kites and Hawks 

 proper. The former feed entirely on carrion, the Kites chiefly 

 on carrion, while the Hawks proper always catch and kill their 

 own prey. Of these three groups the latter are the most delicate, 

 and thus, if we treat the two hardier groups as we do the most 

 delicate we shall err, if indeed we err at all, on the safe side. 



In our treatment of these birds, the first popular delusion 

 which must be dispelled is that these birds are hardy, and that 

 all they require is a cage with or without shelter, and a little food 

 daily. This is a very great mistake ; true they are not difficult 

 to keep, but unless properly kept, although they may not actually 

 die, they will never look nice and always be out of condition. 



In the first place, let us see how they live when wild, that 

 we may have some wrinkles as to their requirements in confine- 

 ment. Although having perforce to seek their prey in cold, 

 bleak and open situations, their actual home is either the gullies 

 of some steep and broken cliff or in the tall trees of some huge 

 forest, and, when not actually hunting for their prey, they are 

 extremely sedentary birds. The capturing of their prey again 

 is no certainty, and many attempts have sometimes to be made 

 before success brings a well-earned meal. The meal, however, 

 being once procured is a good and substantial one and sufficient 

 to last the captor two or three days before the pangs of hunger 

 once more drive him to the chase. Further than this, in their 

 methods of feeding, bones, fur and feathers become swallowed 

 together with the more digestible portions of their food ; these, 

 by the action of the stomach, become collected into a pellet and 

 subsequently ejected, and it is not until some time after the 

 ejection of the pellet that they require another meal. Compare 

 this mode of life with the usual conditions under which these 

 birds are kept in confinement. A large open cage, exposed 

 alike to sun, wind and rain, without any shelter, so many ounces 

 of cold raw meat given daily whether required or not, opportu- 

 nities for casting pellets but seldom supplied, and, if supplied, 

 the next meal served punctually to the hour, regardless of 

 whether Nature demands the food or not. Is it to be wondered 



