"^^^o!"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 525 



harrier, goes farther north to breed, migrates hiter iu the fall, and 

 flies differently, so that if it is the same bird, the case is a unique one. 



On October 3, 1883, watched a Blue Barrier capture a junco in full 

 flight; the latter exhibited some extraordinary feats on the wing, but 

 the harrier was always close behind, and followed up, down, into the 

 grass or along, and in a few seconds he flew off with the sparrow in his 

 talons. I am very sure the powers of flight of this hawk are much 

 beyond those of a Brown Harrier. 



On October 3, near Shoal Lake, west, saw a Blue Harrier trying to 

 catch some teal that were on a very small shallow pond. Each time 

 the harrier pounced the teal would dive below the surface, and at the 

 same time splash the water up as high as possible. This happened 

 several times, and at length the baffled harrier gave up the attempt. 



On May 13, 1884, saw a hawk flying over the slough with a deeply 

 undulated flight. At each ascending part it uttered a cackling which 

 sounded like something between the shrill piping of a snipe and the 

 chuck-chuck of a rooster calling the hens; then it dashed on the down- 

 ward line, repeating the maneuvers for half a mile, when it was lost to 

 sight. This bird seemed black above, and pure white beneath; tail, 

 long. 



On May 19 a harrier was sitting on a tussock in the middle of the 

 slough. It was easily approached by an old and never-failing plan. I 

 fixed my eyes on a point in the horizon, which was so situated that by 

 going toward it I must pass within 30 yards of the hawk. I then walked 

 straight to my mark, never turning my head or even my eyes, else the 

 bird had surely flown. When at the nearest point I turned suddenly; 

 immediately the hawk sprang, but at once fell to my gun. 



It proved a female and had a tchite breast and slaty-brown back. In 

 the gizzard was a gopher which had evidently been stealing wheat, when 

 the harrier caught and lynched him on the spot. Certainly this is a plea 

 for the hawk. Six of the grains were in good condition, though much 

 swollen. They were planted but failed to germinate, doubtless because 

 saturated with the harrier's gastric juice, but most likely the greater 

 part of the gopher's cargo was spilt where he was devoured, so that 

 this illustrates one natural mode of distributing seed. 



I have made many other observations on the food of this bird in 

 Manitoba, and all point to gophers as the staple, blackbirds and spar- 

 rows as occasional varieties. I once saw an old one trying to capture 

 some young ducks, but the mother duck contrived to keep him at bay 

 by splashing until the ducklings escaped into cover. 



May 20, saw a hawk flying in a most extraordinary fashion. Its course 

 was excessively undulated, with the ascending parts nearly perpendicu- 

 lar, the descending in a long oblique, the outline being that of a huge 

 rip-saw. During the first upward bound it uttered a continuous cackling, 

 much like the note of a snipe, then plunged silently downward, again 

 to bound upward; when at the highest point this time it turned a 



