60 Waterfowl. 



saw a mallard singled out of a flock, fairly overtaken, and 

 struck down, by a large, light-colored hawk, which I sup- 

 posed to be a lanner, or at any rate one of the long- 

 winged falcons ; and I saw a duck hawk, on the coast of 

 Long Island, perform a similar feat with the swift-flying 

 long-tailed duck the old squaw, or sou'-sou'-southerly, 

 of the baymen. A more curious instance was related to 

 me by a friend. He was out along a river, shooting ducks 

 as they flew by him, and had noticed a bald eagle perched 

 on the top of a dead tree some distance from him. While 

 looking at it a little bunch of teal flew swiftly by, and to 

 his astonishment the eagle made after them. The little 

 ducks went along like bullets, their wings working so fast 

 that they whistled ; flop, flop came the great eagle after 

 them, with labored-looking flight ; and yet he actually 

 gained so rapidly on his seemingly fleeter quarry that he 

 was almost up to them when opposite my friend. Then 

 the five teal went down headlong into the water, diving 

 like so many shot. The eagle kept hovering over the 

 spot, thrusting with its claws at each little duck as it came 

 up ; but he was unsuccessful, all of the teal eventually 

 getting into the reeds, where they were safe. In the East, 

 by the way, I have seen the same trick of hovering over 

 the water where a flock of ducks had disappeared, per- 

 formed by a Cooper's hawk. He had stooped at some 

 nearly grown flappers of the black duck ; they all went 

 under water, and he remained just above, grasping at any 

 one that appeared, and forcing them to go under without 

 getting a chance to breathe. Soon he had singled out 

 one, which kept down a shorter and shorter time at each 



