HAWKS, FALCONS ANtf EAGLES. $$ 



barred, and this is generally a conspicuous mark if 

 the bird flies overhead. But to try to make out 

 hawks by their colour is at the best a short road to 

 despair. Naturalists learn to recognise them as 

 David's watchman recognised the courier who 

 brought tidings of the victory over Absalom : " His 

 running is like the running of Ahimaaz, the son of 

 Zadok." Every bird of prey has its own character, 

 some trick of flight, some peculiarity of attitude when 

 at rest, something in its figure and proportions which 

 serves to distinguish it decisively. The Sparrow 

 Hawk flies with a few rapid strokes of the wings and 

 then a gliding motion, and this, together with its 

 short, rounded wings and long tail, distinguishes 

 it from any other common bird of prey. I learn of 

 its presence oftener by the ear than the eye. Its 

 sharp, impatient, double cry arrests attention among 

 all other bird-voices. The Sparrcnv Hawk makes 

 its nest in a tree in the hot season and lays three or 

 four white eggs. 



The Falcons have longer and more sharply pointed 

 wings than the hawks and their flight is fierce and 

 very swift. They resort to no surprises, like the 

 Sparrow Hawk, but give chase to their prey in the 

 open sky and fairly hunt it down. The Peregrine 

 Falcon, which has a peculiar fondness for wild ducks, 

 is not uncommon about the coast and doubtless often 

 flies over Bombay, but there is only one species 

 which really inhabits the island, and that is the 

 J.aggar Falcon (Falco Jugger). It finds living cheap 

 and good in our city, for it is partial to a diet of 

 pigeons. A wild pigeon, pursued by one of these 

 birds, once tumbled into my house in such a panic 



