370 



MISSISSIPPI KITE. 



other in search of those large beetles, or coleopterous insects, 

 that are known often to wing the higher regions of the air ; 

 and which, in the three individuals of this species of hawk 

 which I examined by dissection, were the only substances 

 found in their stomachs. For several miles, as I passed near 

 Bciyo Manchak, the trees were swarming with a kind of cicada, 

 or locust, that made a deafening noise ; and here I observed 

 numbers of the hawk now before us sweeping about among 

 the trees like swallows, evidently in pursuit of these locusts ; 

 so that insects, it would appear, are the principal food of this 

 species. Yet when we contemplate the beak and talons of 

 this bird, both so sharp and powerful, it is difficult to believe 

 that they were not intended by nature for some more formid- 

 able prey than beetles, locusts, or grasshoppers ; and I doubt 

 not but mice, lizards, snakes, and small birds, furnish him 

 with an occasional repast. 



This hawk, though wounded and precipitated from a vast 

 height, exhibited, in his distress, symptoms of great strength, 

 and an almost unconquerable spirit. I no sooner approached 

 to pick him up than he instantly gave battle, striking rapidly 

 with his claws, wheeling round and round as he lay partly on 

 his rump; and defending himself with great vigilance and 

 dexterity ; while his dark red eye sparkled with rage. Not- 

 withstanding all my caution in seizing him to carry him 

 home, he struck his hind claw into my hand with such force 

 as to penetrate into the bone. Anxious to preserve his life, I 

 endeavoured gently to disengage it ; but this made him only 

 contract it the more powerfully, causing such pain that I had 

 no other alternative but that of cutting the sinew of his heel 

 with my penknife. The whole time he lived with me, he 

 seemed to watch every movement I made ; erecting the 

 feathers of his hind head, and eyeing me with savage fierce- 

 ness ; considering me, no doubt, as the greater savage of the 

 two. What effect education might have had on this species 

 under the tutorship of some of the old European professors of 

 falconry, I know not ; but if extent of wing, and energy of 



