54 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



consternation amongst other birds, for even the Spur- 

 winged Lapwing, the spirited persecutor of all other 

 Hawks, flies screaming with terror from it* It prefers 

 attacking moderately large birds, striking them on 

 the wing, after which it stoops to pick them up* 

 While out riding one day I saw a Peregrine sweep 

 down from a great height and strike a Burrowing- 

 Owl to the earth, the Owl having risen up before 

 me* It then picked it up and flew away with it in 

 its talons* 



The Peregrine possesses one very curious habit* 

 When a Plover, Pigeon, or Duck is killed, it eats the 

 skin and flesh of the head and neck, picking the 

 vertebrae clean of the flesh down to the breast-bone, 

 and also eating the eyes, but leaving the body 

 untouched, I have found scores of dead birds with 

 head and neck picked clean in this way ; and once 

 I watched for some months a Peregrine which had 

 established itself near my home, where it made 

 havoc among the Pigeons ; and I frequently marked 

 the spot to which it carried its prey, and on going 

 to the place always found that the Pigeon's head and 

 neck only had been stripped of flesh* The Burrow- 

 ing Owl has an analogous habit, for it invariably 

 rejects the hind quarters of the toads and frogs which 

 it captures* 



At the approach of the warm season the Peregrines 

 are often seen in twos and threes violently pursuing 

 each other at a great height in the air, and uttering 

 shrill, piercing screams, which can be heard distinctly 

 after the birds have disappeared from sight. 



