Falco oolumbar ius 
Lake Uinbagog, Maine. 
1395. eould scarcely follow him, gliding down a long, gentle decline 
Sept, 24. moving his wings steadily yet with a rapid, tremulous or vi^ 
( 1 ) 
y Prating motion. At each swoop I felt sure he would strike his 
prey and I repeatedly saw him check his speed abruptly and 
thrust out his talpns in the attempt to do so but at the last 
moment the Jay invariably eluded him by dropping suddenly into 
r 
a tree top when the Hawk would shoot past, circle and rise a*-* 
gainto make ready for another stoop. I have said that he kept 
above the Jays but really he kept to one side of the flock (as 
if to tempt them to try to escape) so that his swoops were 
ordinarily 20 to 40 yards in length with a drop of perhaps 6 
or 8 feet for the total distance. He would make this distance 
' ' . 
while the Jay was flying three or four yards. It was one of 
the most beautiful and interestong spectacles of the kind that 
I have e/er witnessed. The Hawk seemed to be in dead earnest 
but in view of what I have seen Pigeon and Duck Hawks do on 
previous occasions I suspect that this bird was simply amusing 
himself. The Jays did not seem to take him very seriouslyor 
to be much frightened. Finally he disappeared and they flew 
off in peace. An hour later I shot a young Pigeon Hawk near 
Leonard's Pond. 
