HOW HAWKS SECURE THEIR PREY 147 
breaks the neck in the same way, I have examined 
hundreds of birds (partridges) killed by hawks, 
and I have always found the mark of two hind 
talons or one of them. The decapitation is 
generally performed within a few seconds of the 
hawk's alighting on the dazed or crippled victim. 
It is performed by one powerful wi-ench of the 
beak. No peregrine will eat or even pluck a 
living bird. ... In my experience it is a rare 
thing for a peregrine to strike a bird dead in the 
air. It does occasionally happen that the blow 
falls on the head or neck, but what generally 
happens is that the bird is thrown violently to the 
ground with a wing broken or the back dislocated. 
The concussion with the ground dazes it, and 
the hawk quickly drops down upon it and kills 
it with its beak. 
" The merlin often kills comparatively large 
birds {e.g. the thrush, fieldfare, golden plover, 
etc.) by strangling them, as its beak is not strong 
enough to break their necks. It kills larks, etc., 
in the same way as the peregrine kills his quarry, 
that is, by sudden dislocation of the neck. 
" The sparrow-hawk kills its prey by gripping 
it with its feet and di'iving the claws into its 
body ; this is a slow death sometimes, and the 
