.'111(1, (() :(ll ;i|)|)i':ii;iii('i's, cliiit'licd, lo williiil aboul oil(> 

 liiiiKlr.'fl viirds or 111.' carlli, when (hey parted. Kvi- 

 deiitl.v iM'illicr liini had received miicli injury, as they 

 liolli, iillei' lakiii;; sliorl tli^hls across the meadow, 

 aNci'iidi'd ill 4'ii'iii|>aii.\ willi I w o or liiroe of tlieir com 

 paiiioiis Ihal liad accoiniiaiiied liiem pari way down 

 lo main l)<)dy. Aiioliiei- individual closed liis 

 wiiij^s unlil llie liody pi-esenled a Irian-^nlar outline, 

 descended with almost lif;hlnin;?-like rapidity to the 

 lop of a sycanioi'c, wher<' il alighted, and remained 

 for some seconds ])Iuiiiiii}i- itself. This ])arty of hawks, 

 iiller iKM-foiiniiifi for nearly twenty minutes Ihese 

 and numerous other aerial antics, continued their 

 soulhern fli-ht. 



■I'lII'.V H.VTTLIO IN .MIU-AIK. 



('iinibats in midair are quite common among Red 

 tailed Hawks. I have repeatedly witnessed snch bat- 

 tles, and am fully convinced that in the great majority 

 of cases food is the incentive to such action. Illustra 

 live of Ihe su])erior vision of this hawk — and the same 

 .•ijiplies to other of the Uapacia— the following is given, 

 as ol)served by the writer: A clear morning early in 

 March. I saw a Kcdlail circling over the meadows; 

 (•very circle' lool< him higlier and higher in the air, 

 unlil. ;il an altitude where he appeared no larger than 

 .•I blackbird, he slopped, and with nearly closed wings, 

 descended like an ari'ow )o a ti'ee near by me; from 

 this perch, almost the same instant he had alighted, 

 he flew to the ground and snatched from its gra.ssy 

 covert a mouse. The niomenlura with which this bird 

 passed througl) Ihe atmosphere produced ii sound not 

 verv unlike that of the rush of distant water. 



