308 A VES - ORDER A CCIPITRIFORMES. 



his beak, and dexterously catches it in his claws without pausing or 

 swerving in his flight. It is singular that the bird seems quite incapable of 

 lifting anything from the ground with the claws, the beak being invariably 

 used, even when the prey is an animal which it might seem dangerous to 

 lift in this way. I once saw one of these birds swoop down on a rat 

 from a distance* of about 40 ft., and rise with its struggling and squealing 

 prey to a height of 20 ft., then drop it from its beak and gracefully catch it 

 in its talons. Yet, when it pursues and overtakes a bird in the air, it 

 invariably uses the claws in the same way as other Hawks. This I have 

 frequently observed, and I give the two following anecdotes to show that 

 even birds, which one would inngine to be quite safe from the Carancho, are 

 on some occasions attacked by it. In the first case, the bird attacked was 

 the Spur-winged Lapwing, the irreconcilable enemy of the Carancho and its 

 bold and persistent persecutor. The very sight of this Hawk rouses the 

 Lapwings to a frenzy of excitement, and springing aloft, they hasten to meet 

 it in mid-air, screaming loudly and continuing to harry it until it leaves their 

 ground, after which they return, and, ranged in triplets, perform their 

 triumphal dances, accompanied with loud drumming notes. But if their 

 hated foe alights on the ground, or on some elevation near them, they hover 

 about him, and first one, then another, rushes down with the greatest violence, 

 and gliding near him, turns the bend of its wing so that the spur appears 

 almost to graze his head. While one bird is descending, others are rising 

 upwards to renew their charges ; and this persecution continues until they 

 have driven him away, or become exhausted with their fruitless efforts. The 

 Carancho, however, takes little notice of his tormentors ; only when the 

 Plover comes very close, evidently bent on piercing his skull with its sharp 

 weapon, he quickly dodges his head, after which he resumes his indifferent 

 demeanour until the rush of the succeeding bird takes place. 



" While out riding one day a Carancho flew past me attended by about 

 thirty Lapwings, combined to hunt him from their ground, for it was near 

 the breeding season, when their jealous irascible temper is most excited. 

 All at once, just as a Lapwing swept close by and then passed on before it, 

 the Hawk quickened its flight in the most wonderful manner and was seen 

 in hot pursuit of its tormentor. The angry hectoring cries of the Lapwings 

 instantly changed to piercing screams of terror, which, in a very short time, 

 brought a crowd numbering between two and three hundred birds to the 

 rescue. Now, I thought, the hunted bird will escape, for it twisted and 

 turned rapidly about, trying to lose itself amongst its fellows, all hovering 

 in a compact cloud about it and screaming their loudest. But the Carancho 

 was not to be shaken off; he was never more than a yard behind his quarry, 

 and I was near enough to distinguish the piteous screams of the chased Lap- 

 wing amidst all the tumult, as of a bird already captive. At the end of about 

 a minute it was seized in the Carancho's talons, and, still violently scfeamrng, 

 borne away. The cloud of Lapwings followed for some distance, but 

 presently they all returned to the fatal spot where the contest had taken 

 place ; and for an hour afterwards they continued soaring about in separate 



bodies, screaming all the time with an unusual note in 

 The Long-legged tneir voices as of fear or grief, and holding excited con- 

 Hawks. Sub- claves on the ground, to all appearance as greatly dis- 

 txm&jAccipitrina. turbed in their minds as an equal number of highly 



emotional human beings would be in the event of a 

 similar disaster overtaking them." 



