Z()orx3(;icAT, s^)CII■:T^■ luiLLhyrFN 



The Caracai'as run ami cliasc each nthiT, 

 jiim]) into the air and chuckle, in a most kit- 

 tenish way, and a dancflinq- strinsj tied to the 

 top of their ca^v with a racf at the lower end, 

 affords an op])ortunity for amusement, which 

 ends onlv with the destruction of the rair. 



\RAI.AKA KAl.l.l,. 



'I'hese birds are ver_\- tame. Impping- up (in 

 line's knees and taking pollywogs from the 

 hand. As soon as they were installed in their 

 cage, watcli was kept to sec if they would live 

 up to a curious habit related of them. This 

 they did to jjerfect satisfaction. When ex- 

 cited, as when both have hold of the same 

 mouse, one will occasionally utter a noise like 

 a griuit with a rolling r-r-r-r-r at the end, at 

 each note raising the head farther and far- 

 ther back, until sometimes it is almost in an 

 inverted ])osition, the Ijill resting on the back. 

 They can skin a mouse with wonderful cx- 

 ))crtncss, leaving the skin of the body inside 

 out and almost entire, looking all ready for 

 the arsenic of the taxidermist. The liead of 

 the animal is, however, generally first torn off. 

 Within the confines of \ew York City. 

 most birds have yielded to the omnipresent 

 luiglish sparrow, but even a short distance 

 beyond its limits, Nature — wild and untamed 

 — asserts herself. Two new arrivals at the 

 Zoological Park give evidence of this — a pair 

 of Duck Hawks about four weeks old, which 



were captured near the Hudson River. They 

 have not yet lost all their nestling down, but 

 fiercer little creatures could not be imagined. 

 They fly at the hand which holds out a mouse 

 to them, as though they woidd tear one's fin- 

 gers to pieces and their fierce " eagle-eyes " 

 snap with anger. Right well do they support 

 the reputation which tradition has given them, 

 for they are the " noble peregrines " of Fal- 

 conry, the fiercest of birds for their size. 

 They roam over the whole world with hardly 

 any variation in plumage and none in dispo- 

 sition. For years a pair have laid their beau- 

 tiful eggs — creamy white blotched with rich 

 ch(x:olate — on a little ledge of rocks overlook- 

 ing the Hudson River, finding in neighboring 

 ])oultry-yards, covies of quail and passing 

 ducks, an abundant larder. Volumes have 

 lieen written, treating of their training and 

 exploits, and this very species is the one w'hich 

 was reserved for the use of nobility — earls 

 alone could hawk with them, and they ranked 

 second onlv to the regal g\rfalct)n, the king's 

 bird. 



These birds seldom desert a spot which they 

 have once chosen as a nesting site, and the 

 parent hawks will now probably choose a more 

 maccessible crag on our ])alisades, and rear 

 their young in safety. Let us not begrudge a 

 few chickens as payment for the sight of these 

 liirds. so different from our lethargic "hen " 

 hawks (which seldom feed on hens). We can 

 little afford to lose another noteworthy feature 

 from our all too deforested and " debirdcd " 

 cnuntry. 



When we have an unusually severe winter, 

 when the snow lies deep, and weeks of clear 

 ci>ld weather make the season worthv of its 

 name, we sometimes find that otiier inhabitants 

 of the .\rctic realm, besides snow-birds and 

 cross-bills, are among us. Seven great Snowy 

 ( )wls in the Zoological Park testify to this. 

 These came .southward with the more severe 

 storms of last winter, floating lightly at night 

 in the track of the storm, searching for places 

 where a lesser cold encouraged small birds 

 to be abroad, or where the snow crust allowed 

 field-mice to run their tmmels thniugh it. 

 These great creatures easily hide from our 

 eyes, almost indistinguishable in their snowy 

 plumage, but crows and jays find them out, 

 and make such a noise that everything and 

 everybody within a half mile soon know of 

 their disc(3very. On attempting to snatch the 

 bait from a mink-trap, the steel jaws close 

 (n-er the feathered talons of the owl, and hold 

 him fast. 



These are beautiful birds, the older ones 

 Ix'ing almost immaculate, and their great, yel- 

 low eyes staring out of the depths of their 



