CARANCHO 79 



from a distance of about forty feet, and rise with 

 its struggling and squealing prey to a height of twenty 

 feet, then drop it from his beak and gracefully catch 

 it in his 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 imagine to 

 be quite safe from the Carancho are on some occa- 

 sions attacked by it. 



While walking in a fallow field near my home one 

 day I came on a Pigeon feeding, and at once recog- 

 nised it as one which had only begun to fly about a 

 week before ; for although a large number of Pigeons 

 were kept, this bird happened to be of the purest 

 unspotted white, and for a long time I had been 

 endeavouring to preserve and increase the pure white 

 individuals, but with very little success, for the 

 Peregrines invariably singled them out for attack. 

 A Carancho was circling about at some distance 

 overhead, and while I stood still to watch and admire 

 my Pigeon it stooped to within twenty yards of the 

 surface and remained hovering over my head. 

 Presently the Pigeon became alarmed and flew 

 away, whereupon the Hawk gave chase — a very 

 vain chase I imagined it would prove. It lasted 

 for about half a minute, the Pigeon rushing wildly 

 round in wide circles, now mounting aloft and now 

 plunging downwards close to the surface, the 

 Carancho hotly following all the time. At length, 

 evidently in great terror, the hunted bird flew down. 



