66 THE FALCONS. 



" Tlie whole time he lived with me, he seemed to watch every movement I made, 

 erecting the feathers of his broad head, and eyeing me with savage fierceness ; considering 

 me no doubt as the greater savage of the two. Wliat effect education might have had on 

 this species under the tutorship of some of the old European professors of falconry, I 

 know not ; but if extent of wing and energy of character, and ease and rapidity of flight, 

 . could luive been any recommendation to royal patronage, this species possesses all these 

 in a very eminent degree." 



The attention of Mr. Wilson was greatly taken with these birds, and he on several 

 occasions opened the stomachs of those which he had shot, in order to discover the food 

 on which they had been sustained. On every occasion he found nothing but the legs, 

 wings, and other indigestiljle portions of beetles, grasshoppers, and other large insects. 

 He suggests that its lofty flight is for the purpose of preying upon those insects which 

 choose the highest region of air for their pleasure trips, and not merely for the better 

 convenience of seizing prey on the ground, as is the case with so many of the more 

 carnivorous hawks. 



The colours with which this bird is decorated are, though simple in themselves, 

 exceedingly pleasing in their general effect. The head, neck, and part of the secondaries 

 are a greyish-white, and the whole of the lower parts are whitish-ash. The back and 

 upper portions of the body are ashy-black, and the pinions are deep black, as is its deeply 

 forked tail. The legs are scarlet, and the claws, bill, and cere black. 



Closely allied to the Mississippi Kite is the Spotted-tailed Hobby, or Leaden 

 ICTINIA, both names being derived from the colouring of the plumage. It is, in common 

 with the preceding bird, a native of America, and resembles it closely in many of its 

 habits and manner of feeding. It is fond of soaring at a very great elevation, and will 

 often remain stationary in a single spot, hanging as it were self-poised in air, much after 

 the manner of the common kestrel, or windhover of England. The back and wings of 

 this species are a slate or leaden blue, and the head and remainder of the plumage of 

 whitish-grey, spotted rather singularly with brown. The eye is bright red. Specimens of 

 this bird have been found both in North and South America. 



The true Falcons are known by their strong, tliick, and curved beak, the upper 

 mandible having a projecting tooth near the curve, which tits into a correspondmg socket 

 in the under mandible. The talons are strongly curved, sharp pointed, and are either flat 

 or grooved in their under sides. These birds were formerly divided, by authorities in the 

 art of falconry, into noble and ignoble hawks, the former being known by the forma- 

 tion of the wings, in which the second primary feather is the longest, and is supported 

 nearly to its tip by the first primary. In consequence of this structure the flight is 

 extremely quick and powerful, so as to adapt the bird to the peculiar purposes which it 

 was desired to serve. The Falcons all obtain their prey by striking it while on the wing ; 

 and with such terrible force is the attack made, that a Peregrine Falcon has been known 

 to strike the head completely from the shoulders of its quarry, while the mere force of its 

 stroke, without the use of its claws, is sufficient to kill a pigeon or a partridge, and send it 

 dead to the ground. 



In striking their prey the Falcons make no use of the beak, reserving that weapon for 

 the purpose of comjDleting the slaughter when they and the wounded quarry are 

 strugglmg on the ground. Should a small bird be the object of pursuit, and the country 

 be open, a Falcon will sometimes drive full against the object of his pursuit and kill it 

 immediately by the blow from its keeled breast. Generally, however, the bird strilces 

 with its talons, employing chiefly the claw of the hinder foot, on which, from its forma- 

 tion, is concentrated the whole force of the assailant. Sometimes when flying at quails, 

 pigeons, or partridges, birds which generally associate together, a Falcon will flash among 

 them with its lightning swoop, and dash one after another to the ground before he 

 descends to feed upon the product of the chase. Mr. Thompson saw a Peregrine Falcon 

 strike no less than five partridges out of a single covey. The mode of attack differs con- 

 siderably in each species, and will be described in connexion with the habits of the birds 

 themselves. 



