THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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Photograph l)y Dr. A. A. Allen 

 SWAHOW-TAILED KITES SOAR AND CIRCLE AEOFT WITH BUOYANT GRACE 



So well provided with wing and tail surface arc these larger prototypes of the barn 

 swallows that they spend nearly all of their time in the air. They even feed in the air, often 

 on small water snakes, which they deftly snatch from among the reeds and devour aloft. 



On one occasion a pair of duck hawks 

 harried a helpless nighthawk, stooping at 

 it playfully until one in passing gave it a 

 quick scjueeze with one foot. It then 

 allowed the nighthawk to fall, when it 

 was seized hy the other duck hawk. Then 

 the pair flew away, and the one with the 

 booty at intervals dropped it, so that it 

 could be seized in air by its mate. 



THE DUCK HAWK A PRACTICAE JOKER 



When not hungry, the duck hawk, feel- 

 ing its superior strength, frequently in- 

 dulges in harmless play at the expense of 

 its bird neighbors. 



Often I have seen them flying along the 

 river channels, driving ahead of them a 

 motley flock of blackbirds, herons, avocets, 

 and other birds, herding them in disorder 

 like sheep, but without offering to harm 

 them. Again, as night herons flew ahead 

 of my launch, a duck hawk would dart at 

 them repeatedly, forcing them down lower 

 and lower, until finally, with protesting 

 squawks, they struck the water. They 

 were not allowed to rise, but had to swim 

 into the shelter of the willows to escape. 



One pleasant afternoon in fall I heard 

 a great roaring of wings overhead and 

 looked up to see a cormorant that a few 

 minutes before had been soaring peace- 

 fully high in air, dashing down with set 

 wings toward the river, with a duck hawk 

 a few feet behind. Just above the water 

 the hawk suddenly accelerated, tapped the 

 cormorant lightly on the back, then cir- 

 cled easily away, while the frightened 

 quarry took refuge unharmed in the water. 

 Frequently falcons at play dashed at top 

 speed through milling flocks of flying 

 sandpipers, scattering them like leaves in 

 the wind, but not striking any of them. 



The food of birds of the hawk group is 

 highly varied, though it is taken entirely 

 from the animal kingdom. The larger 

 species of falcons subsist mainly on various 

 kinds of birds and small mammals, but the 

 smaller kinds, such as sparrow hawks and 

 falconets, eat lizards, grasshoppers and 

 other insects, and mice. The common 

 red-tailed hawks and their allies, known 

 universally as "chicken hawks," may on 

 occasion eat birds or even visit hen-yards 

 for prey, but confine their attention prin- 



