The Living Animals of the World, Volume II: Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, Fishes, Jointed Animals, Molluscs, etc.

powerful. It is further remarkable for the enormous size of the beak, which differs from that of all other members of this group in being side.much compressed from side to

The sea, as well as the mountain and the forest, is also, as it were, presided over by members of this group, which are in consequence called SEA-EAGLES. One species, the WHITE- TAILED EAGLE, OR ERNE, is reckoned among British birds, though it is fast verging on extinction. In former days it bred on the sea-cliffs of Scotland and Ireland, and in the Lake District. The nest, or eyrie, as it is called, is commonly placed on inaccessible cliffs, but some- Photo ly W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.] [Regent's Park. PONDICHERRY VULTURE. times on the ground or in a tree, and, as is This Indian species is remarkable for the loose flaps of skin on each side of the head.usual with the group, is made of sticks, with which hang down a lining of finer materials. This eagle feeds principally upon fish, though hares, lambs, and rabbits and carrion are occasionally taken.

The Hawk Tribe, generally speaking, have the wings comparatively short, the legs long ; but it isand slender, and the edges of the beak with a sinuous outline and unnotched impossible to sharply define the group. The best-known species are the SPARROW- and GOS- HAWKS. The first named is still a common British bird, but the latter has now become very

Birds of Prey and Owls 473

rare indeed. In both species the male is a much smaller bird than the female, and is also more brightly coloured. The G OS-HAWK was at one time used in falconry; it is a bird of extremely ferocious disposition, and in the days when hawks were used for sporting purposes had to be kept very safely tethered, as, if it gained its liberty, it would at once proceed to kill every other hawk and falcon "in the mews." The Falcon Tribe is divisible into two sections the one containing the American CARRION-HAWKS, and the other the FALCONS. The CARRION-HAWKS, or CARACARAS, are long-legged birds which spend most of their time on the ground and run well. They are said to hunt, not seldom in packs, after the fashion of wild dogs. One species at least affords an admirable example of mimicry so rare among birds. This is the CURASSOW-HAWK, so called from its resemblance Photo }y W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.] [Regent's Park.

EGYPTIAN VULTURE.

to the curassow, one of the This is one of the foulest feeders of the Vulture Tribe.

Game-birds. The resemblance is evidently advantageous, for thereby the hawk is enabled to sit quietly at rest till its prey comes within easy reach, mistaking the hawk for the inoffensive curassow. The FALCONS form an exceedingly interesting group, if only on account of the part which they played in the sports of mediaeval England. Birds of large size and forms as small as sparrows are included within" the group; all are very powerful on the wing, and all feed on living prey,

Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green. WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE. though, in the case of the di- This is an Australian species, feeding chiefly upon carrion. minutive forms, this may consist 60

of the World474 The Living Animals

mainly, if not entirely, of insects. The members of the Falcon Tribe may be distinguished from the majority of the larger hawks by the fact that the eyes are dark hazel-brown instead of yellow, and that the bare, yellow, waxy-looking band of skin at the base of the beak, so characteristic of the Birds of Prey, is not sharply defined, but scantily clothed with fine bristles, passing insensibly into the feathers of the crown of the head.

Some of the best-known members of this section of the group are the PEREGRINE and JER-FALCONS, and the KESTREL, HOBBY, and MERLIN. Only the peregrine and the kestrel, however, can now be called common.

The PEREGRINE is the falcon held so much in esteem by falconers, by whom the female tiercel." The is smaller, being known as a "only was called the " falcon," the male, which female was used for the capture of the larger game, such as herons and rooks; whilst the male was flown only at partridges, and sometimes magpies. In a wild state the peregrine falcon is regarded by other birds with the greatest fear and terror. Ducks feeding on the banks of streams or lakes, on perceiving it, immediately take to the water; whilst plovers and lapwings rise to an immense height in the air, and remain there for hours. Mr. Ussher, who has had many opportunities of studying this bird in Ireland, where it is quite common, relates an instance of the tenacity with which it follows its prey, in after several this case a lapwing. " The falcon," he says, " stoops, cleverly avoided by the lapwing, was so near clutching, that the poor bird, quite worn out, dropped into the water, and the falcon, after rising from her stoop, poised a moment on her wings, and then quietly lowering herself with extended legs, lifted the lapwing from the water and bore her off." The eyrie is generally found half-way up some precipitous cliff: no nest is made, but the eggs are laid on the earth or gravel covering the selected ledge. When eggs are found in a nest, the latter has always been taken from some other bird, even the eagle being occasionally dispossessed. Three or four eggs are laid, which are very beautiful and variable in their coloration. The young are attended by their parents long after they are able to fly. The JER-FALCONS are birds of large size and great rkoto ly Dr. R. W. Shufddt, Washington. and at one time were much in request by falconers, AMERICAN SPARROW-HAWK. beauty, probably largely on account of their appearance, for they One of the smallest and handsomest of the American hawks. lack the power and spirit of the peregrine. Grey and black and white and black are distinctive colours of the various species, which are inhabitants of northern regions.

The KESTREL, or WIND-HOVER, is one of the commonest birds of prey, much and most unjustly persecuted by gamekeepers. In its general appearance it closely resembles its much thissmaller relative, the so-called " SPARROW-HAWK " of America, shown in the photograph on it should be mentioned, is really apage by Dr. Shufeldt. The American sparrow-hawk, species of kestrel, and, like the British kestrel, belongs to the Falcon group of the Birds of Prey. Like the peregrine falcon, the kestrel does not build a nest, but takes possession of the deserted nests of crows and magpies, or deposits its eggs on the bare earth of a recess in some cliff or quarry which is overhung by a projecting shelf of rock. Occasionally a hole in a tree is chosen, the eggs then resting on the rotten wood at the bottom. That the kestrel is of a more confiding disposition than the majority of its tribe seems to be proved by the fact that it will often deposit its eggs in nesting-boxes, if these are placed in suitable spots. On some

Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green. Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] IPunuits Green.

VOCIFEROUS SEA-EAGLE. IMPERIAL EAGLE.

This is an African species. Occurs in Southern Europe and North-west Africa.

Photo ly W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S.] [Milford-on-Sea. Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green.

CRESTED EAGLE. CHILIAN SEA-EAGLE.

A powerful and savage bird from South America. This bird feeds on carrion which it finds on the beach.

475

of the World The Living Animals

English estates the harmlessness of this bird is fully recognised, and every encouragement is given it to breed by the erection of these nesting-boxes. By way of illustration we may cite a case where, on an estate in Kent in 1900, five of these boxes were

i\ erected 20 or 30 feet from the ground round

; single field, all of which were tenanted by kestrels and though a thousand young pheasants were reared in this field, not a single one of these was missed by the keepers. Besides its human enemies, the kestrel has to contend with crows and rooks, which spare no efforts to seize its eggs whenever the opportunity presents itself. The eggs, it should be mentioned, are of a bright ruddy colour, but, like those of the peregrine falcon, lose much of their freshness of colouring during incubation. Four or five in number, they are laid at intervals of two days or so, incubation commencing with the deposition of the first egg; as a result, the first nestling hatched may be more than a week older than the last. The food of the kestrel appears to consist mainly of mice, but frogs, earthworms, grasshoppers, cockchafers, and other beetles are also taken. Kestrels will also eat dead animals, as is proved by the fact that they are not seldom found dead from eating poisoned rats laid out for magpies. One instance

Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.] [Regent's Park.

ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD.

Frequent in the British Islands. with its claws entangled in the fur of a stoat, which fiercely defended itself. It is an easy matter, for those who will take the trouble, to find out what is the staple diet of the kestrel; for if the nest and its be searched, numerous small roundedneighbourhood pellets of the size of a chestnut will be found, which, when broken up, will prove to be composed of the hard and indigestible parts of what has been swallowed. The majority of such pellets are made up of the fur And bones of mice. The little AMERICAN "SPARROW-HAWK," which, as we have already pointed out, is really a species of kestrel, appears to be almost exclusively insectivorous during the summer months, preying mainly upon grasshoppers. An American ornithologist,- Mr. Hen-shaw, writing on the subject, remarks that during a scourge of grasshoppers the sparrow-hawks assembled Photo by W. P. Dando. F.Z.S.] [Regent's Par in hundreds; and although on this occasion, owing MARTIAL HAWK-EAGLE. to the vast myriads in which these insects had col- The Hawk-eagles show a marked preference for lected, the birds could make no visible impression, yet woody districts.