14 



I 





assailant till it reaches cover and hides in the sedge. 



The Harrier secures his prey by grappling it in his talons, sometimes bearing it off with him, 

 but more generally remaining on the spot to devour it. On newly ploughed land he may occa- 

 sionally be seen regaling himself on grubs and earthworms. It may be noticed that on these 

 occasions, instead of walking, he moves by a succession of hops, the toes being turned inwards, in 

 order, as it would appear, to protect the fine points of his grappling-instruments. 



When the winter rains have inundated the low-lying flats and filled the lagoons, these places 

 become the favourite resort of Wild Duck, Teal, Pukeko, and numerous other Waterfowl ; but 

 this Hawk also puts in his appearance with the new comers, and is a perpetual terror to them. 

 I have frequently seen one attack a full-grown Pukeko {Porphyrio melanotics), attempting to 

 grapple it in its talons — its long tarsi and legs being stretched downwards to their full extent, 

 accompanied by much noiseless fluttering of the wings. The Pukeko, anticipating the attack, 

 springs upwards with open mouth and outstretched neck, and generally succeeds in warding off" its 



Audubon, in his ' Birds of America,' states 

 that he has seen the Circus cyaneits attack the Marsh-Hen (Ealhis crepitans) in the same manner. 

 Young birds, and those wounded by the sportsman, suffer most. On one occasion I fired at and 

 disabled a large Pukeko, which at once took refuge in some rushes on the edge of the lagoon ; 

 but before I could get round to the spot, one of these Hawks had killed, plucked, and partly 

 devoured it. 



I have known the Harrier, when urged by excessive hunger, visit the poultry-yard and snatch 

 up a chicken in its talons ; and I have occasionally seen it attack both the wild and the domestic 

 Duck ; and Mr. Gould, in writing of this species in Australia, declares that it is addicted to the 

 stealing of eggs. On the other hand, I have seen it assailed by the Common Sea-GuU (Larus 

 dominicanus) on approaching the nest of this bird, and put to an ignominious flight. 



It is said to be very destructive on the sheep-runs during the lambing-season ; and I have 

 been assured by eye-witnesses that three or four of them will sometimes detach a lamb from the 

 flock, and then, assailing it from diff*erent points, tear out the animal's eyes, and ultimately kill it. 

 I am of opinion, however, that these attacks are confined to the weakly or sickly lambs of the 

 flock, and occur only in times of great famine. Be that as it may, the practice of poisoning 

 Hawks in the lambing-season has now become very general; and I have known upwards of a 

 hundred of them destroyed in this manner, during that season, in a single locality. It is accom- 

 plished by rubbing a small quantity of strychnine into the body of a dead lamb or piece of off'al, 

 and leaving it exposed on the run. The poison takes immediate effect, and often eight or ten 

 birds are thus destroyed in the course of an hour. We are informed by Mr. Potts that on the 

 Cheviot Hills Station (in the Province of Canterbury) upwards of a thousand Hawks per annum 

 have been destroyed in this manner during the last two or three years, and, as an almost neces- 

 sary corollary of this, that rats are most abundant on this particular sheep-run. The damage to 

 a flock where these Hawks abound is, no doubt, greatly overrated. It is true, however, that this 

 species does sometimes hunt in packs ; for I have counted as many as twenty of them at one time 

 hovering over a small "mob" of sheep detached from the main flock; and three of them have 

 been seen to attack a full-grown Turkey, and, acting in concert, to overpower and kill their 



quarry. 



The natives take this species by means of flax snares, arranged in such a manner that the 



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