Sept., 190S 



A FAMILY OF YOUNG DUCK HAWKS 



199 



or four days ahead of the smallest in strength, weight and wit. This large one was 

 inclined to seize everything he could when it came meal time; in fact each one was 

 always ready to grab anything he could out of the mouths of the others. 



I gave them plenty to eat and most of their time was spent in sleeping and 

 eating, so they grew amazingly. In five days they almost doubled in weight, hav- 

 ing reached nine, eleven and one-half and twelve ounces, respectivelj^. During the 

 month following, they traveled several hundred miles on board the launch, but a 

 rough sea seemed only to improve their appetites. 



They were not particular as to their food as long as it was fresh meat, except 

 that they preferred bird bodies to mice. On June 30 they weighed twelve, eighteen 

 and twenty ounces. They had tremendous appetites and could eat almost their 

 own weight of meat every day. At this time the largest one began to develop a 

 few dark pin feathers and one day he discovered what his feet were made for. 



On July 6 the hawks weighed twenty, twenty-three and twenty-five ounces 

 each. The largest one was now learning to flop his wings and hop down the hill. 



BROOD OF YOUNG DtJCK HAWKS TAKE;n FROM NEST NEAR KItLISNOO, ALASKA, JUNE 16, 1907 



and once he uttered a genuine duck hawk cry. From this time they did not in- 

 crease much in weight but went mostly to feathers. 



A few days previous to this the middle-sized one became listless and refused 

 to eat. This indicated that there must be something radically wrong with him, as 

 his appetite had been the biggest thing about the bird. As time went on he grew 

 worse instead of better and would just stand around and squall most of the time, 

 still refusing food. Even two large doses of castor oil did not seem to improve 

 his condition. On the eighth of the month I decided that it would be more merci- 

 ful to kill the bird than to permit it to starve to death. A post mortem revealed 

 the cause of the trouble. Its stomach was distended to the utmost capacity with 

 hair, shot, moss, and other foreign substances of such a nature that they would not 

 form pellets that could be thrown up. 



I was away from camp for a week soon after this and upon my return could 

 scarcely believe that such a change could have been wrought in so short a time. 

 Instead of a frayed-out, half fuzzy, half feathered bird, the largest duck hawk was 

 now a beautiful falcon with clean bright plumage and a general clear-cut neat ap- 



