Qmm'H'i - f tS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I Saigent » SK |;: 321 4^^^^^flH^^^^|^^^H ■F95 . '^^■^SvmnBBflj ^^^Hh- '^^^^^^^^^^^^^I I CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY LABORATORY OF ORNITHOLOGY LIBRARY Gift of ^ Si: •-I ad DC o o o Eh OS CJ u O 2 i CD OL X, < O P iJ O •-• WlLU^M DUNUAP 3/\^(b^H"\ iqs5 CORNELL UNIVERSITY The WILLIAM D. SARGENT Collection • ^ (^ift to the JCahoratory of Ornithology • K -7 ') r- -: y Vol. XXXVIII, No. 6 WASHINGTON December, 1920 THE ATQONAL COPYRIGHT, I 9 20. BY NATIONAL GEOGRAFHIC SOCIETY. WASHINGTON. P. C. FALCONRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS Once the Means of Supplying Man's Necessities, It Has Survived the Centuries as One of the Most Romantic Pastimes of History Bv Louis Agassiz Fuertes Illustrations in Color from Paintings by the Author IT WILL surprise many to learn that the art of falconry, or hawking, goes back to the remote and unwritten past. We have many proofs of this , in the frescoes and sculptures of the early Egyptians and Persians. And in all the time that has passed since that early day there has never been a total lapse of the art ; falconry has in every age been car- ried on in sorne part of the world. Ref- erence material is found in books not only of England, Holland, France, Italy, and Spain, but of China, Japan, and Russia, while the sport has been followed from immemorial time in India and northern Africa. The ancient Greeks apparently knew nothing of falconry, but the Lombards, settling in north Italy about 560, knew of the art, and by 875 it had become a gen- erally known practice throughout west- ern Europe and Saxon England. From that time it thrived, filling an important place in the life of the times. RETURNING CRUSADERS WERE ENTHUSI- ASTIC DEVOTEES OE FALCONRY A vast impetus was given to falconry by the returning crusaders, who had be- come familiar with the methods of the Orient and had brought with them both falcons and trainers. War lords never left their courts without their falconers and a cadge of hawks, to be flown at anything that might be deemed worthy. The gun, of course, delivered a serious blow to the art, as it provided a quick, sure, and inexpensive way of getting meat. Still, the real devotees were never greatly affected by this device, and through the centuries, up to the rebel- lion in England, and later through the French Revolution on the Continent, falconry survived the difficulties imposed by the introduction of firearms, the breaking up of the country into small holdings, the ■ reclaiming of large areas of wild land, and other inevitable changes incident to a multiplying and advancing population. As a general practice, however, fal- conry in Europe ceased after the great social upheavals mentioned. Its mainte- nance as a sport since then is attributable in large measure to half a dozen hawking clubs, among which are the Falconers' Club, the High Ash Club, and the Loo Club in Holland. There were probably thirty or forty private establishments in England in 1914, but no doubt the World 430 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Drawing by I^ouis Agassiz Fuertes (after La^celles) TRAPPINGS AND GEAR USED IN EAECONRY : "haWK FURNITURE" (i) Dutch hood, commonly used on all but newly caught hawks; (2) Indian hood, pre- ferred by some falconers for the same use as the Dutch hood; (3) Rufter hood, for new- caught hawks, made of soft leather and open behind, merely covering the eyes; (4) Bewit, a light strap by which to hold on the bell; (s) Indian bell, the type preferred to all others; (6) Lure; (7) Glove or gauntlet; (8) Method of attaching the bell and jess to falcon's foot; (9) Jesses, light straps permanently attached to falcon's feet: (10) Swivel, through which is passed the leash; (11) Leash, by which the hawk is held till quarry is sighted; and (12) Brail, a slit strap that goes over one wing and is tied around the other side of the hawk, to prevent it from "bating," or flying off when still wild. FALCONRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS 431 War has made a heavy toll on both the personnel and the support of the sport. Within the last twenty years there had been a great renascence of amatevtr fal- conry among the English, and some rather successful attempts have been made in America, particularly in the Genesee Val- ley, New York. The great expense of maintaining the birds, due to the scarcity of experienced trainers and catchers, and the difficulties of forwarding so rangy a sport in the settled conditions of most of our eastern country have made it impossible, however, to achieve any real success in America and the growing sentiment against kill- ing all but a few species of game-birds will probably act as a further deterrent. Still, there are several common birds which are recognized as game that would make admirable quarry for the peregrine, notably the quail of our Atlantic States and the sharp-tailed grouse of the north- ern prairies. The native wild goshawk is already the chief problem of all the grouse of our northern wooded section. HAWKS ARB AMONG THg SHYEST OF CREATURES While it is true that in training hawks to hunt, as in all other animal training, advantage is taken of the natural pro- clivities of the creature in hand, neverthe- less, it seems at first glance that these vigorous and intrepid birds are taught to go almost directly against their instincts. First of all, being among the wildest and shyest of creatures, they must be taught that man, instead of being their worst enemy, is really their best friend. Then the rest becomes comparatively easy, if no mistakes are made. But any one of hundreds of possible errors may undo weeks of patient and successful labor. Then, too, since dififerent kinds of game must be hunted at different times of the year and in different kinds of cover, either the same hawk must be trained first for one type of work and later for something entirely different, or different kinds of hawks must be used. Of the hundreds of kinds of hawks, only certain ones possess the combina- tion of qualities necessary for this beauti- ful and romantic sport. A hawk must be at once kind and fierce; it must be able to stand the changes of climate of its owner's country ; it must be strong enough and swift enough to overtake and strike down its quarry, and intelligent enough to be able to unlearn much of its native knowledge. These qualities are possessed by only about a dozen species, belonging to two groups or genera — the true falcons, of the genus Falco, or long- winged hawks, and the short-winged group of forest-hawks known as "Ac- cipiters." Only two of the latter are used, the goshawk and the European sparrow- hawk. ( The bird known in America as sparrowhawk is a small falcon which feeds principally on insects and is useless for hunting.) THE PEREGRINE IS THE MOST COSMO- POLIT-\X OE BIRDS The peregrine is the only falcon proper found all over the world. There is no other bird with such a cosmopolitan range. It is found on both sides of the Equator, throughout the entire world, nearly to the Arctic and Antarctic circles. It is natural, then, that this should be the falcon of falcons and known to all ages of man as a tractable and capable help in his search for food ; for falconry was at first a very practical and even sordid pur- suit, only later — much later — becoming the sport of the privileged classes. A peculiar set of traditions and an equally picturesque language have be- come inseparably attached to the art of falconry ; and it is only fair to the Scotch, who, in their conservatism, have been responsible for the colorful language of golf, to give them the credit for preserv- ing the romantic terminology of falconry. It Avas in Scotland that the art was per- petuated after it had languished over most of Europe. Ancient history is elocjuent with the in- fluence of the noble sport of hawking, the history of medieval Europe is richly colored with it, sixteenth and seventeenth century literature fairly abounds in pas- sages concerning it, and the language of the day was so tinctured with the jargon of the hawkers that it is fair to conclude that, before men had knowledge of gun- powder and the fowling-piece, hawking was such a general practice as to be the principal means of obtaining wild game. 432 THE XATIOXAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Cr0ujri- nife" Lesser Coverts. .MiCtdle Couerts. Secondarif Coi/etts. Tn'marif Coverh. Seconofaries Cf^L^6S) uilh or Trimaries. Bea-ms^ ' (The ivinfffi-i «■ ii'hoh\ ft.« called the Sails." ) -iDetk Fea-tiren" (MicUU T'^ir) Drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes A CHART GIVING THE FALCONERS' NAMES FOR THE PARTS OF A HAWK FALCOXRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS 433 According to the "Boke of St. Albans," published about i486, the kinds of hawks apparently used by the various elements in English socie;ty are given as follows : Emperor . . . Eagle. King Gerfalcon and tiercil of gerfalcon. Prince Falcon gentle and tierci! gentle. Duke Rock falcon. Erie Peregrine. Baron Bastard. Knight Sacre and sacret. Squire Lanare and lanret. Lady Mezlyon (Merlin). Young Man. Hobby. Yeoman .... Goshawk. Poorman . . . Tezcett. Priest Sparrowhawk. Holywater Clerk Muskayte. THE Falconer's xames for his hawks Falcons of the same kind differ so in performance and character, according to their experience before being taken in hand, that the falconer has separate names for each type, as follows : Eyess is the name given to falcons taken from the nest ; Branchcr is applied to young thjit have left the nest, but not the neighborhood of their infancy ; Passagers are birds of the year caught in the autumn migration ; Haggards are adult birds with two or more years of wild experience ; Falcon is strictly the female of any of the larger long-winged hawks, while the male, being nearly a third smaller and lighter in weight, is called the "tiercel" or "tarsel." In strictest usage (now gen- erally ignored) the tiercel is the male of the goshawk, the larger of the short- winged hawks, while the male peregrine is the "light tiercel" or "tiercel-gentle" of Juliet's time. Being so much larger and stronger, the female, or falcon proper, has always received the greatest share of the falconer's regard and labor. Gne who trains and hunts long-wings only is the true falconer, while the user of goshawks and sparrow-hawks is tech- nically an Austringer or Ostringer, from the Latin Astru (French Aittur), the generic name of these hawks. The falconer has a special name for every part of his hawk and for every- thing he does. Falcons are brought into subjection to man's will either by being taken from the nest just before they are able to fly or by being caught wild after they are fully grown and self-supporting. Those taken from the nest (eyess hawks) are the ones usually trained over most of Europe. Ordinarily they are much gentler and more easily trained, but lack the dash and style of the wild-caught birds known as "haggards." In India and Africa, how- ever, the eyess is virtually unknown, as the hawks are always trapped adult. THE bird's training BEGINS In the training of eyesses the procedure of the present day differs only slightly from that of the Middle Ages. Modern falconers use very much the same quaint medicines and nostrums and have the same names for falconine troubles as are so picturesquely described by Bert in his "Treatise of Hawks and Hawking," pub- lished 300 years ago. The }"oung hawks are left until nearly all the down has been replaced by brown feathers. Their removal from the nest takes place toward evening, when they are put in a hamper and sent to the fal- coner. It is highly desirable that as much as possible of their journey be made at night. Arriving at their destination, they are placed in a roughly made nest and fed on chopped beef and egg. and a little later on fresh birds, rabbit, rat, or squirrel. All food should be tied to a boferd in a given place, to force the young hawks, which are otherwise free except for the bell and "jess," or leg-strap, to come to the same place for food. The birds are now "at hack" until they learn to fly, and begin to stoop at live prey on their own account. They should be left entirely alone, and for the present the wilder they become the better ; for should they come now to associate food with man's presence, they would at once start clamoring and screaming every time they saw a man — a most undesirable trick. If properly "hacked," the young birds soon learn to make long flights into the surrounding country, returning at regular intervals to be fed from the shelf or feed- ing-board. They may be left in this state of virtual freedom for some three weeks, 434 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Photogvaijh by Guy Bailey PEREGRINE FALCON AT HER EYRIE ON THE FACE OE A 4OO-FOOT CLIFF NEAR ITHACA, NEW YORK A pair of falcons has nested for many years in the same deep gorge. One July day sixteen pigeons were brought to the young hawks by the parent birds. until they begin to catch prey for. them- selves. Then they are "caught up." It is time to catch them when they begin to be absent at the regular feeding time. A bow-net is used in the trapping — a light twine net fastened along one side to a stick bent into a half circle, the free side being pegged down and the ends of the stick swiveled to pegs in the ground. The net is folded back on the pegged side and a light cord fifty yards long tied to the middle of the bow. The trap is then baited with a tempting morsel, also pegged in place, and the bird is trapped when it comes to feed. The moment it is caught a soft leather hood, open at the back and known as a "rufter," is placed over its eyes and tied on, a swivel and leash tied to the jesses, and it is put down on soft grass with a block to sit on and left for an hour or two to settle down. Its real "manning" (training to endure the presence of strangers) now begins. It must be carried on the gloved hand for several hours each day, spoken to, and softly stroked until it begins to lose its nervousness and becomes reconciled to the hand as a perch. It may now be fed a little, and when it eats without hesita- tion the hood may be removed gently, in candle-light, and the meal nearly finished unhooded. The rufter must be replaced before the end of the meal, however, or the hawk will come to associate the hood with the end of its feeding time, and resent it. When the bird feeds freely by candle- light it may be tried in daylight, and after this is accomplished it should be accus- tomed to the presence of men, children, dogs, and other creatures ordinarily frightful to it. This does not usually take many days. JIOST OF THE hawk's LIFE IS SPENT IN DARKNESS Now comes the hardest part of the manning — the breaking to the hood. FALCONRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS 435 This is a delicate business, one in which many a fine hawk has been ruined, as a hood-shy hawk, whatever its other vir- tues, is of no use to its owner. Most of [ the hawk's Hfe henceforth is spent in the ', darkness of the hood, which is only re- moved in the loft or at the moment when it is to be flown at quarry. THE HAWK IS TAUGHT TO STRIKE AT A SWINGING LURE Thus far our hawk has been fed al- ways from the hack-board or from the fist ; now the lure must be brought out and put into use. This is a padded weight (a horseshoe is excellent) with wings of teal or pigeon attached. It is also pro- vided with strings for attaching food and a long string by which it can be dragged. The hawk is given a bite or two from it, when it is thrown to the ground, where the meal is finished. For a time now the bird must be fed only from the lure. As soon as the hawk recognizes the lure immediately and flies to it for food, it is given, hooded, to an assistant and "hooded off" to the falconer, who swings the lure some 200 yards distant. The bird probably will fly at the lure almost at once and in any case will discover and recognize it soon. The lure is twitched out of sight just as the hawk goes to grasp it. At the sec- ond attempt the food tied to the lure should be awarded, and after a few repe- titions of this the bird will seldom be far from its master when he has the lure with him. The bird must now be taught to kill for itself, and a fledgling pigeon is a good subject for this. If properly trained to the lure, there is no danger of the hawk "carrying" (flying ofi^ with its quarry), which is a serious fault. After a few "easy" birds, a capable old pigeon may be flown. The hawk, unless unusually good, will miss on this quarry, but on returning high in the air should be thrown an easy bird; then well fed and petted. It has probably learned from this that to suc- ceed it must be above its quarry. After this is learned, the hawk may be flown at wild game. This is the merest outline of the train- ing of young hawks. It is an easy task, compared with the manning of haggard or passage hawks, which have for a sea- son at least been accustomed to shunning man as the worst of all evils. Hawks may be caught anywhere within their range, but by far the most famous place for this exciting (and remunera- tive) pursuit is in South Brabant, in Hol- land. Here, near the little village of A'alkenswaarde, lies a great open moor, where thousands of passage birds go by in the autumn, followed by the falcons that prey upon them. From time imme- morial — certainly well through the Mid- dle Ages — falcons have been trapped and trained here for the nobility of all Eu- rope. In the heyday of the sport, emissaries from the courts of each little duchy and principality gathered at Valkenswaarde after the trapping and bought for their masters the product of the season's catch. What a picturesque and lively scene these medieval auctions must have been, with knight bidding against knight for the beautiful birds that had been won out of the air and brought into the thralldom of man ! The old cult of falcon catching and training has never completely languished at \^alkenswaarde, and the family of ;\I611ens has for many generations led in the industry. Indeed, wherever falconry is practiced the Mollens are known as the most skillful and expert trappers and trainers, and many of the most famous falcons in the history of the sport have come from their able hands. In capturing the "passage hawks,'" the trapper conceals himself in a sod hut, from which extend long strings to op- erate the net and the decoys used to lure the wild hawk within range from afar, after its approach has been heralded by the little telltale "announcer." THE BUTCHER-BIRD IS THE TRAPPEr's SCOUT Xow, of all birds, perhaps the shrike, or butcher-bird, most cordially hates and fears its big competitor and ogre, the fal- con. And the shrike can detect its enemy in the far, far distance much sooner and more infallibly than can man, even with strong glasses. Therefore, the skillful 486 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE From a drawing by lyOuis Agassiz Fuertes UPPER FIGURE, FIELD CADGE ; LOWER FIGURE, SCREEN CADGE, FOR HOUSING FALCONS The carrier of the cadge was usually a country boy — a tenant of the owner of the hawks. From "cadger" came "codger," a countryman, and doubtless cad and caddie, both typical Scottish derivatives only slightly different in their present-day appHcations. falcon-catcher first traps his shrike and attaches him to a perch on a little sod mound with a retreat into which it may dive to safety when the hawk comes near. The shrike sits quietly on its perch until it sees a falcon in the distance, when it begins to chatter and scold, getting more and more excited as the falcon ap- proaches, and finally actually "pointing," thus giving the trapper ample time to have everything in readiness. At the first sign, the trapper retreats into his hut and closes everything except the little peep-window and begins work- ing his tied pigeon and the decoy hawk up and down on the elevated line, to at- tract the wild falcon's eye. The actual trap consists of a bow-net set some fifty yards from the hut. Through a ringed peg driven in the mid- dle of the net passes the tether to the bait, a live pigeon which is in retreat in a box a few feet away. When the falcon lias come within a hundred yards of the trap the "lure" pigeon is dragged out. flapping its wings. The hawk prepares to stoop. At this moment the "lure" pigeon is dropped and dives to shelter and the "bait" pigeon is drawn out of its box into view. When the hawk has struck, the victim and victor are drawn gently into the exact center of the net, which is then sprung by means of a line from the hut. The falconer loses no time now. He runs out to the trap, fastens- jesses to the FALCONRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS 43^ From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes BLOCKS AND PERCHES, FOR "WEATHERING" HAWKS The falcons are all rock-dwellers by nature and are most comfortable when perched on a flat surface; hence blocks are used, with a swivel to prevent the leash from getting tangled up. The short-winged forest hawks, like the Goshawk and Sparrowhawk, have enormous claws, which are greatly in the way on a flat surface, and are therefore weathered on slender "bow" perches. The T-perch is used for eagles. hawk's legs, and puts a sock over his captive's head and body with as little fuss and excitement as possible — an operation calling for great skill and dexterity. The captured hawk is then hurried to the hut and laid on its back and all is made ready for another attempt. The training of a haggard hawk is in many respects similar to that of an eyess, but with this vast difference: the eyess, taken young and with no fear or hatred of man, requires simply to be led to do the will of its master, whereas the hag- gard has to be redeemed by patience and kindness from a state of fierce enmity and suspicion into one of complete docil- ity and submission, and has to unlearn all the teachings of its experience and in- stinct and learn the will of its new master. The trainer takes his new hawk to the loft and there removes the sock, replac- ing it with a soft rufter hood. It would take too long to tell in detail all the many difficulties that lie before the falconer; but, with no accidents and much skill, patience, and understanding, a fully adult haggard peregrine may be- come accustomed to the presence of man and his works in a fortnight. This is ac- complished by requiring the newly caught hawk to sit for hours and hours upon the hand and by depriving it of any chance to go to sleep until it is thoroughly recon- ciled to the new condition. It is then gradually allowed more light and more ease and rewarded with food as its docil- ity progresses. In some respects it is easier to train the haggard than the eyess to hunt, for the former has long killed for itself, while the food of the eyess has been fur- nished by its master. Eyesses are usually more tractable and run truer to "form," but the haggard almost invariably has vastly more dash and style than its house- bred loft-mate. The style of action and methods of hunting are so different with the long- winged hawks and their short-winged cousins that they had best be considered separately. THE "long-wings" ALWAYS ATTACK IN THE AIR The "long-wings," or falcons proper, by nature strike their prey in the air, killing it clean by the direct blow they deliver at the end of their "stoop." They battle for position in the air, attaining their "pitch," or position above their 438 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Painting by Ix)uis Agassiz Fuertes WING OF FALCON, OR LONG-WINGED HAWK (uPPEe) , AND WING OF GOSHAWK, OR SHORT-WINGED HAWK (lOWEr) The Long-wing is adapted to swift flight in the open, being flat, long, narrow, rigid, and unbroken to the end, only the outer feather being notched, and that only for a short dis- tance. The Short-wing is adapted for precipitate flight in cover, being short, broad, deeply cupped, elastic, and with the "ailerons" deeply notched on at least five feathers. quarry, by circling or "ringing," and, when sufficiently well placed, dashing down headlong, hitting their quarry a re- sounding blow that often can be heard a long distance, following it down and striking again if necessary, but never "binding" to it, and never striking quarry that is sitting or on the ground. Falcons proper are always hunted in open country, where the quarry is either located and flushed with dogs or beaters and the hawk flown from the falconer's wrist, or the birds are trained to "wait on." In the latter case, upon being un- hooded and flown, they ring up and up. attain their "pitch," wait for the game to be flushed, and when it is well tmder way make their terrific stoop. On large game, like heron, falcons are often flown in "casts," or pairs, and take FALCONRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS 439 turns stooping in rapid succession until the quarry is killed. In the good old days many kinds of hawks were used, but those most es- teemed, because of their size, style, and beauty, were the gerfalcons of the north. Centuries ago the Icelanders caught and trained both old and young birds, and the annual catch sometimes amounted to hundreds. In general, however, the gerfalcon does not seem to thrive in England or on the Continent. It wilts in the summer and becomes listless, refusing to fly, and finally fading and falling prey to some one of the many ills that beset hawks. This seems to point to a great skill and knowledge on the part of the medieval falconers, who certainly used the gers very extensively and successfully in kill- ing the kite, a most capable hawk, then common all over Britain and Europe. WHEN" THE DESERT EALCOX HUNTS THE GAZELLE The sacre, a "desert falcon," nearly as large and heavy as the gerfalcon, is still used in India for hunting the kite, and probably this is the most thrilling quarry that has ever been used in falconry. The kite is a magnificent flier and spends much time at an altitude of thousands of feet, so that the actual battle often takes place so high as to be almost out of sight. Another spectacular use to which the sacre is put is in the hunting of gazelles and of bustards. The falconer and his field are mounted on swift horses, and in the gazelle hunt three, five, or more hawks are cast when the quarry is started. It is an exciting chase, full of danger for every one concerned — the riders, because of the chase over rough country ; the quarry, because of the num- ber and intrepidity of his assailants ; and the hawks, because in their dashing stoops they are frequently impaled upon the horns of their quarry. The Houbara bustard, a large plover- like bird the size of a turkey, aflfords a spectacular chase. He does not fly, but, with wings and neck outstretched, runs like a cloud-shadow fleeting over the plain. The hawks, three or more in a cast, pursue and worry their quarry for miles over the desert, only striking the fatal blow when the bustard has become nearly exhausted, as by that time have also such horses as have been able to keep up with the terrific chase. THE PEREGRINE IS THE FALCON OE EALCONS The peregrine, falcon of falcons, is not as large or as strong as either the gers or the sacre, but combines, with a hardihood unknown to the "exotics," all the qualities that go to make a good hawk — gentle- ness, teachability, courage, dash, willing- ness to "wait on" at a great height, and, most important of all, availability ; for, as has been said, the peregrine has a world- wide range, and is therefore obtainable in almost any country where men want to use it. In this article, then, unless specially noted, the peregrine is the sub- ject of the narrative. In a wild state, were it a common bird anywhere, it would be a very undesirable neighbor, for it preys almost exclusively on birds, and is capable of taking such swift and resourceful game as plover, snipe, and wild-fowl. Its common name in America, the duck-hawk, is well given, the reference being to wild ducks and not the tame bird. Like many another brigand, the pere- grine prefers easy prey to difficult, is in nowise averse to poultry, and is particu- larly fond of domestic pigeons. A pair whose eyrie I watched on a 400-foot cliff near my home one July day had three young on the wing. During the middle of the day there was little activity and all the birds sat quietly pluming and rest- ing; but for the first three hours in the morning and the last three in the after- noon, one old bird or the other returned about every twenty minutes with a pig- eon. On that one day sixteen pigeons were brought to the young. Of course, this was more than they could eat entirely, and much more per capita than grown birds would consume, but where an adult hawk will keep in very fine condition on half a pound of fresh game a day, a growing fledgling requires above its own weight daily of animal food in order to maintain its miraculous growth and the great physical effort of producing an entire coat of feathers. There are many recorded instances of 440 THE NATIOX'AL GEOGRAPHIC .MAGAZINE the wild peregrine's adaptability to the easy life of great cities, where congenial nesting and roosting places are found in the belfries, towers, and lofts of the pub- lic buildings and pigeons in abundance are available. For many winters an old peregrine appeared in Washington, haunt- ing the Post-Office Department building tower as a lookout, sallying forth when- ever it was hungry, making a clean kill on pigeon, and returning to the post-office roof to plume and eat its prey. A mem- ber of the Biological Survey went on top of the building and collected a large number of leg-rings from carcasses that had been left by this bold and capable brigand. A fine old female peregrine I once took from Pajaro Island, in Mexico, was liv- ing on white ibis from a convenient rook- ery, and her lookout tree was well sur- rounded by the bleached and weathered carcasses of her victims. I fancy her demise was a welcome event on the island. Many stirring accounts are current of the courage and tenacity of purpose these hawks possess, but one of the most strik- ing is of an eyess falcon belonging to a Major Fisher, which was flown at a woodcock near Loch Eil. Both birds mounted at once, higher and higher, until they were entirely lost to view, even with powerful glasses. After considerable time, however, a tiny speck was seen fall- ing out of the sky, and the woodcock, closely followed by the thunderbolt in feathers that had struck him, fell toward the very patch of- fern from which he had been flushed. Before hitting the ground, however, the hawk had again overtaken her victim and struck him stone dead in air. After so long a chase the falcon was well fed up, and, so far as she was concerned, her master wisely "called it a day." The "Old Hawking Club," organized in England in 1864, always maintained a fine cadge of hawks and kept careful records of individual performances. Be- tween August 12 and September 14 one year, the club's prize bird, "Parachute," a two-year-old eyess falcon, killed 57 grouse, 76 partridges, 5 pheasants, 3 hares, and five birds of miscellaneous species. "General," a falcon belonging to the Duke of Leeds, killed in 1832 129 out of 132 flights, mostly at partridges. "Vesta" was flown in Scotland in nine successive years, averaging 33 grouse a season. This is an unusually long life of activity. A glance down the records of famous clubs and of private owners reveals many interesting and romantic names, such as the falcons "Lady Jane Grey," "Em- press," "Buccaneer," "Black Lady," "Comet." "Destiny," and "Will o' the Wisp" ; tiercels "Druid," "Butcherboy," "Mosstrooper," "Vanquisher" ; merlins "Tagrag," "She," "Ruy Lopez" ; sparrow- hawks "Blanche," "Lady Macbeth," and "Faerie" ; goshawks "Enid," "Isault," "Geraint," "Tostin," "Sir Tristram," and for variety "Gaiety Gal" and, grimmest and truest of all, "Shadow o' Death." A FAMOUS FLIGHT BY "BOIS-LE-DUC" "Bois-le-duc" was a haggard falcon of fine qualities, and the following, quoted from Lascelles, gives us a lively picture of a rook flight by this famous hawk: "We take up our position behind a stack to wait for a rook passing on his way from the rookery in the valley to the sheepfold on the hill. Presently we see one coming, toiling slowly over the shoulder of the down. "Shall we fly one of the young falcons lately entered and coming on so well, or shall it be the old heroine of a hundred flights, victress over more than double that number of rooks, that flies now her fourth season with all the vigor and dash she di.splayed in the blinding snowstorms and heavy gales of her first year? "A hundred or two yards is far enough for a slip with a young hawk, but with a real good one a quarter of mile is not too far, while many and many a time, if the wind be right for her, the old hawk has been slipped at rooks a fair half mile away. "It looks as if this slip would be too far for a young hawk, so the handsome old falcon is taken on hand, to the delight of the whole field, not one of whom, how- ever large it may be, but will stay out 'just one half-hour more' when it is an- nounced that it is the turn of old 'Bois- le-duc' to fly at the next chance that occurs. 1 ; '<«. t '/ ■ ^ r A FAIR HIT: GERFALCON STRIKING HERON When Knighthood was in Flower the favorite game of every overlord (who alone was entitled to use the Gerfalcon) was the stately heron. Modern falconers seem unable to adapt these splendid northern hawks to present conditions, depending almost wholly upon the native peregrine But in the fourteenth century a gerfalcon was indeed a kingly gift, and one often employed when the goodwill of a near or distant potentate was particularly desirable. In attacking, the gerfalcon climbs above the heron then "stoops" with great force at her quarry. There is no truth in the legend that the heron, as a means of defense, sometimes impales the descending enemy upon its dagger-like beak. II TIERCEL GENTLE: A HIT ON GROUSE Scotland must receive the credit for perpetuating the " Noble Art " when it had languished over the rest of western Europe, and no quarry is better suited to the capacities of the Peregrine, or " Gentle Falcon," than the Scotch red grouse. But the " gentle " part is forgotten when the hawk makes its thunderbolt assault, diving on its victim from a height or "pitch" of hundreds of feet, usually killing it clean with a single resounding blow of the half-closed fist. A good falcon will never seize or " truss " i's quarry. The term tiercel (meaning the male of various species of falcon) is derived from the Latin tertius, accord- ing to some because every third bird in the nest is supposed to be a male ; according to others because the male is supposed to be a third smaller than the female. Ill GOSHAWKS: AN ADULT TIERCEL (MALE) AND A YOUNG FEMALE These are the fiercest and most competent killers ot all, and therefore used principally by the " yeomanry" as meat getters. They are in " red " plumage for the first two years of their life, afterward becoming slaty- grayabove and barred below. Theyrequire carefulwatching in the niews(the buildings where the hawks are kept), lest they break loose, when they will go systematically about killing every other bird in the loft. They hunt on or near the ground, and, unlike the falcon, come to earth with their quarry. .Among all hawks, the female is larger and nrore powerful than the male. IV GOSHAWK STRIKING PHEASANT Unlike the true falcons, the short-winged Goshawk hunts ground-haunting quarry, and trusses (holds) to its victim till the latter ceases to struggle, no matter how fierce and rough the tussle may be. It kills by the vice-like squeeze of its piercing talons, instead of by the terrific blow of the half-open foot, as do the true falcons. " Red Queen," a famous goshawk of the " Old Hawking Club," had an authentic record of six- teen hares out of seventeen struck in a single morning. O o cl, ct iH ^ o Ms g 6 M„ < O w a; s e-= -C „ r Q ci S g ^ « 6 .2 >-* S 1= S ^ d rt ^ S r os-s .^ B ' [_, 4J (LI OJ +- " i; ra r/i §3^ VI « K " cot: „ « c 7^ -^3 2 -o-c"a H S < z < X M _ < ■ N a; bjj -' 'J O o tr qj -fc- f^ 2 S " -CM o^ - a ^ . - c o ■'^ 'n a. a. a o c CO ^ Pi < ■" S c a; — oj ■^ C fe E ?J ^ MS- £2 ^Mj= VII fe •3- Via ji-3 M S c SJ 0) _W S rt 2i S^ bj) S 2|H ■^ bSi , S ^ >^ «._,[_. >-< M OJ c/) o c — w O "^ .t! H-1 H-1 W g £-0 N < rt "t; p4 ■^-^ t3 O o o ■s'^^ H O- rt rt M 3 i3 z 0- '^ ti o u j:J-Ct3 l-J < u, rt fe c^-o rt t3 ra ffi 3.^^ l-H ^1^ ^ OJ M u ■ ^ h ^ r. ^ o S. cd ^J w 1-o5 o z ■^^rsg l-H •^ cd « . H ^ oj iji h H <:-a s^ "^ K»c *■ „ tiJ3 rt +J .S C !S •■:: ^ " 3 My (u S-T3 M = -S| >-irp-a IX »*-*"" f- t/' A SPARROWHAWK MAKING A TRY FOR A BLACKBIRD Although too small and slight for " regular" game, the European Sparrowliawk, which closely resembles our Sharp-shin (see color plate XVI), is uncommonly fierce and courageous, and makes spirited dashes at such quarry as starlings and blackbirds. It is a hedgerow hunter, depending for success upon the intrepidity of its onslaught and the pertinacity with which it follows its victim. It will even run through thick cover after skulking quarry. ^f^ Photograph hy L. Otlivier (Paris) AN ALGERIAN FALCONER: BISKRA, NORTH AFRICA Falconry had its rise in man's early necessity in man's birthplace, Central Asia, where it has thrived almost without interruption ever since. The sport has from immemorial time been followed in India and Northern Africa. XI -?§ <«E-i R*^ S.5 /'^ 1% %-i ( -v / 1 »^-r^ *■»':' '-i--.^?*^' XII < "' ^ 3 ^:; E g:3 o o o-a -^ u D. Cl Q, ^ O- O > ■ ■ ^ ! o H .S 0. j, 'i- t Z D ■?-s O i ^ ■ ^ ^^ 3-d . < O rt — ^ . ■ J3 !u:= Mfem^ o over a t as overh p and k ■ Q ' and ry w stoo W ■«"«^ p4 M cr _ Q Z e enga il the ame tc Q le wer ed unt the g; D O O-XlM- o b o O ^Sm •-'% a C> -l-i oo w - O =1 o S ^ '^ Q J. CO OJ 3 g:S < O «j3 O :S^_-i=^ ^^vvpni h a in vi'h :at man the fun z o •^ at w g M== z inch the ing o s^i < irof ease t on o a ruli uous ins is H .^•S.2 » < unt o sum! Icone w ■°-c .S w 0) *J Bi - 2i S li ribes insu Mod. 1^1^^^^^^^ H u o u -3 S C o o o o"^ S3 f^ S ^ o fe „ mm^^^t Marc hing e hun H^^^H Xlll A CAST OF FALCONS ON THE WRIST : HOLLAND The birds are carried hooded until the game is started. Then the hood is doffed, tiie leash slipped from the swivel and the falcons cast off, singly, unless the game is large and powerful. The rest lies with the birds. FALCOMK lAKlNC. 1I.\(,C,A1.D PEIT.CRINE 1 ROM IHL BOW-NLE LURED THITHER BY THE BAIT PIGEON Nearby is the " sock " into which the hawk will be thrust, while jesses and bell are attaciied to the legs. Much skill and dexterity are required, for an outraged falcon is no easy thing to handle, and can inflict severe punishment with its great needle-sharp talons. The beak, though a capable weapon, is not used even in self-defense. XIV HAWKS THAT ARE THE FRIENDS OF MAN Large, conspicuous hawks are all of great economic value, being the principal natural check on the hordes of noxious rodents that, if unmolested, would soon render agriculture unprofitable. The large soaring, circling hawks of the open country are not the ones that molest the farmer's poultry, but are the ones that hold in check the field-niice, gophers, ground-squirrels, mole-crickets and grasshoppers that annually cost the country many millions of dollars through their depredations on crops, orchards and forage. XV ONLY FOUR MEMBERS OF THE HAWK FAMILY ARE OUR ENEMIES The four liawks whose names are underscored are the ones that give a bad name to the whole hawk family. Of these the Cooper's Hawk is most important because commonest and most widely distributed. The Gos- hawk, restricted to the Northern wooded region, is terribly destructive to game birds and to poultry. The Sharp-shin, an inveterate bird-killer, is too small to molest poultry, except chicks a few days old. The Pigeon Hawk is not important, being quite rare. XVI FALCONRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS 45 "All is hushed as the rook, a single bird, presumably a strong old cock, comes slowly up. He passes us and is going nicely on when something about the party awakens his suspicions and he gives a sudden swerve that in one second takes him about 150 yards off on a side wind. "We are not to be done this way, though, and in a moment the head of our party, with falcon on hand, dashes out at a brisk gallop down wind of the rook, which hastens up on wind. But a hun- dred yards or so is no matter to us with this hawk, and the moment we are fairly down wind of him the old hawk is un- hooded and flung off ; and the falcon is in hot pursuit of her quarry, rising with each stroke of her powerful wings till she seems to shoot upward like an arrow from the bow. "The rook has seen her, and is making his way upward at no mean rate ; but the pace of the falcon is too much for him, and ere long she is above him. Poising herself for a moment, she comes, with one terrible perpendicular stoop, straight at him. "It would seem as though nothing could escape ; but our rook is equal. to the occasion, and with a clever shift he has dodged her attack by a good yard or more. "WELI, DOXE, rook" " 'Well done, rook !' but there is clearly now no safety for him in the air, for the falcon has shot up again, with the im- petus of her stoop, to a height scarcely inferior to that from which she de- scended ; so, turning his tail to the wind, he makes all possible haste to a small patch of thorns that promises a tempo- rary shelter, having, however, on the way to evade two similar stoops from the hawk, almost as fine as the first. "Alas for friend rook ! On reaching the covert he finds it already occupied by the enemy, in the shape of the excited field, who soon drive him with halloo and crack of whip from his shelter, and com- pel him again to seek the open. The falcon has, however, strayed a little away ; so he starts with might and main to ring, in spiral curves, into the very clouds. "After, him starts the hawk, but soon finds that really good rook, such as this is, can mount nearly as fast as she can. "Up, up they go, gradually becoming smaller and smaller. Ring above ring does the falcon make, yet without getting above him, till, apparently determined to gain the victory, she starts off into the wind to make one tremendous circle that shall attain her object. "Steadily into the wind she goes, the rook striving to follow her example, and appearing from below to be flying after the hawk. At length, as she almost com- pletes the outer circumference of her cir- cle, the rook, perhaps feeling his powers exhausted, turns down wind, and, at a great height, makes oft' as fast as he can go- "Surely the flight is over, for the falcon is still working away, head to the wind, as hard as she can — in fact, the two birds are flying in opposite directions, half a mile apart. 'Not a bit of it,' say the initiated, who are oft' down wind as fast as they can ride. A MAGXIFICENT STOOP, AND VICTORY ! "In another moment you see the falcon come round, and though at such a height she looks no bigger than a swallow, you can see that she is far above the rook, while her pace, slightly descending as she is, is almost that of a bullet. So thinks her quarry, apparently ; for. shutting his wings, he tries to drop like a stone into a clump of trees now nearl}^ beneath him. "Swiftly as he drops, there is a swifter behind him, and down from that terrific height comes the falcon like a thunder- bolt. Lord, what a stoop ! "By the powers, she has missed ! And now surely he must escape. "But no. Shooting upward like a rocket, the old falcon puts in one more straight, swift stoop, and the rook is taken just as he enters the sanctuary which he has had his eyes on from the first. Whoo-who-op ! A grand ring ! a magnificent stoop ! a splendid flight ! Bravo, 'Bois-le-duc !' " Among the smaller falcons the merlin, hobby, and kestrel are the only ones now used, and, indeed, the kestrel, being largely a locust and mouse feeder, seems to be rather beyond the skill of the mod- ern trainer, though there are abundant proofs that it was used in medieval times. This is a beautiful and gentle species and 45S THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE ]">in\viii(j by Louis Agassiz Fnertes THE FALCON S FIST Falcons kill their prey in full flight, by a terrific blow with the h;ilf-closed font, returning after the strike to pick up the victim (see Color Plate II). it is a pity it cannot be more profitably used. TRAINING THE SHORT-WINGED HAWKS Thus far nothing has been said of the training and hunting of the two short- winged hawks, the goshawk and the spar- rowhawk. Just as the falcons, with their long, narrow wings and compact bodies, are adapted to the chase in the open, with wide maneuvers and great stoops through unbroken space, so these rangy, slim- legged birds, with their short, "broad- fingered" wings and long, sweeping train, are beautifully adapted to work in the tangles and forests, where they naturally live. These birds seldom come out into open country unless there is some tempting poultry yard or game preserve where a quick sally is assured of its reward. Wlien such a larder is discovered, how- ever, little peace comes to the owner until the marauder has been brought to earth, for it will take its daily toll until the yard or cover is depleted. Goshawks and horned owls are gener- ally to be feared in cold winters on all extensive game covers in this country, and they make sad havoc with the work of years when once they infest such a place (see text, page 461 ). The goshawk is a very different crea- ture from the falcon, and by its nature and style of hunting is fitted for entirely different work : for the goshawk does not strike its prey in air and return to it after the turn, but pursues it and binds to it at once, whether in air or. as it prefers, on the ground. These hawks have a curious habit, too, of covering their quarry with their outstretched wings and tail until it ceases to struggle. THE goshawk's feet ARE ENGINES OF DEATH The feet of the goshawk are veritable engines of death, with enormous talons and great strength. Whereas a falcon's foot is more like a fist to deliver a terri- ble blow, the short-wing's feet are like great ice-tongs with semicircular claws nearly an inch long, which enter the very vitals of the quarry and kill as tough a creature as a rat or a hare in a few sec- onds and take the life of any bird almost instantly (see drawings on this and the opposite page). FALCONRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS 459 Drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuevtes DRAWING OF THi; FOOT OF A GOSHAWK (NATURAL SIZE) The Goshawk kills its prey by clutching, and driving its great talons into its victim's vitals, not releasing its hold until the quarry ceases to struggle (see Color Plate V and text, page 4S8). These hawks are worked along hedge- rows or in woods, only being used in open ground on hares, rabbits, or pheasants. In thick cover they perch hard by, watch- ing for the instant the quarry may be put out by dogs or beaters. The short-wings are very much more intent on their game than are the falcons, and even in a wild state have been known to chase fowls into the farmer's .kitchen and kill there. Dr. Fisher records an amusing instance in which a goshawk dashed in and seized a fowl which had that instant been killed by a farmer, drag- ging it only a few rods before starting to deplume it. In another case, a hawk pur- sued its quarry through the kitchen of a farm-house into a bedroom and there made its kill under the bed ! While the strikes of this hawk are very hard and impetuous, they are usually short, and do not result in the exhaus- tion that follows a good flight by a falcon. Thus they may be flown many times in a day, and there is the record of old "Gaiety Gal," who was flown at 17 hares in one morning, trussing to all and killing clean all but the last, which, being excep- tionally strong and the hawk naturally weary, got away after a struggle. Sir Henry Boynton's "Red Queen" killed 24 rabbits in one day. There is something almost devilish about the fury of a goshawk's strike. Her yellow or orange eye, the pupil con- centrated to a cold point, fairly burns with ferocity, and the clutch of her awful foot is such that virtually no amount of twisting or somersaulting on the part of the hare or rabbit can dislodge the great piercing hooks. As an example of the goshawk's sin- gle - mindedness when in pursuit of quarry, Lascelles tells of one which drove impetuously downhill at a rabbit. As the quarry leajDed four feet in the air to avoid the stroke which grazed it, the hawk turned over and caught it from underneath while in the air, "rolling af- terward down a steep bank head over heels, but never leaving go her hold." "It is not uncommon," continues this observer, "to see a rabbit captured at the mouth of a burrow, and hawk and all disappear under ground ; but when she is lifted out, however much she is knocked about, the rabbit is in her foot." THE SPAEROWHAWK HAS MANY ADMIRERS The sparrowhawk is reclaimed and trained in much the same manner as other hawks, and her tactics are almost exactly those of her big relative. No 4(30 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE whit less fierce and bloodthirsty is she, and the blackbird or starling that has put into a hedgerow or thicket has small chance of eluding the cold eye that is quietly watching from some near-by perch for the first stir. The sparrowhawk has many enthusi- astic supporters, and for many reasons is the best fitted for the amateur falconer, as these birds are not costly and small loss attends failure. They may be used on almost all small game and brush birds, and have been used with success on par- tridge. In England, however, the spar- rowhawk is used chiefly on blackbirds and starlings, and while it is in a way small sport, the ingenuit)^ of the quarry and the catlike agility of the little hawk give spice to the chase. Here, even the tin)- male or "muskett" is of use. The chase is over if the hawk makes a true strike ; but the quarry is re- sourceful and nimble and it is frequently very difficult to make the pursued bird fly if it has once succeeded in reaching cover. I once saw close at hand the tactics of a house-sparrow, which flew chattering within a few inches of my head, hotly pursued by a male sharp-shin, the Amer- ican miniature of the sparrowhawk. The sparrow flew directly into the densest tvviggery of an old lilac clump, and there continued to flutter and chatter. Almost instantly the hawk, wings and tail thrown back and lean, sharp talons extended, struck the bush with a thwack, trying to drive through to the terrified (but still resourceful) sparrow. Failing, the hawk, entirely ignoring me, turned back again on its course, flew past me to a distance of perhaps a hundred feet, wheeled, and again drove at the bush as if thrown from a catapult. This occurred four times in rapid suc- cession before the hawk decided it was of no use and continued on its way philo- sophically. After a very short time the sparrow, too, resumed its normal state of mind and joined a group of others in the road near by. From the foregoing it will be seen that falconry had its rise through man's early necessity, in man's birthplace, central Asia, where it has thrived almost with- out interruption ever since ; that later it became the sport of the more privileged classes, attained a high pitch of popu- larity in medieval times, and has since fallen, as the result of many contributing causes, to a point where it is costly and extremely difficult to maintain. It is not too much to suppose, however, that there will always be those who have the means and the desire to keep alive one of the most beautiful and romantic sports that man has ever devised. For- tunately, there is plenty of colorful liter- ature on the subject from the days of chivalry and there are several practical books by later-day devotees of the art. It is, perhaps, not too much to venture the belief that now, after the war that has so completely occupied the minds and lives of the civilized world is over, we shall swing back to some of the less seri- ous pursuits that we formerly enjoyed, and that among these falconry may un- dergo a real revival. AMERICAN BIRDS OF PREY— A REVIEW OF THEIR VALUE IT IS not always easy to cast up an exact balance to show at a glance just what value we should attach to any given bird or animal, and the difficulty becomes much greater as the element of prejudice or chance personal observation complicates the verdict which dispassion- ate research determines for any given species. The prejudice against all birds of prey is so general that it is well nigh impossi- ble to convince any one who has once seen a hawk steal a chicken that only a few kinds have this habit, and that all the rest deserve the most careful protec- tion. This fact has been admirably set forth, however, in that now rare work, published in 1893 by the Bureau of Biological Survey, Dr. A. K. Fisher's "Flawks and Owls of the United States." Much of the specific information in the present article has been drawn from that authoritative source. For many years the field agents of the A^IERICAX BIRDS OF PREY 461 Biological Survey have been instructed to send to the Bureau the crops and stom- achs of all the birds and animals they collect, that their food habits may be studied without favor or prejudice. As a result of this study, the balance in favor of the American birds of prey has been shown to be an overwhelming one. No similar natural check exists against the hordes of destructive and rapidly multi- plying field-mice, gophers, wood-rats, ground-squirrels, and moles. ^lany perse- cuted species of birds feed their ravenous young almost exclusively on those pests of our grazing and grain regions, the grasshoppers, locusts, and mole-crickets. It cannot be denied, nor is it my inten- tion to palliate the charge, that certain hawks and owls are villainous destroyers of poultry, game, and beneficial birds. Let it be said here in parentheses, how- ever, that man's own self-introduced pet, the cat, undoubtedly kills as many little chickens and vastly more beneficial and desirable birds than do all the birds of prey in America, many times over. Virtualh' all the damage of which the opponents of our birds of prey complain is done by five kinds of hawk and one owl. The number of birds and fowls killed by the remaining eleven common hawks and five owls is so insignificant as to be comparatively of no importance. The purpose of this study is not to cover in detail the whole performance of the entire list of American raptorial birds, and not more than two-thirds of the species are mentioned. Those that are so rare or that dwell in such remote or uninhabitable regions as seldom to fail under observation are omitted, as the family is. at best, a difficult one to de- scribe or treat in a simple and lucid way. This is, of course, the reason for the present confusion in the minds of all ex- cept real students of ornithology. Still, the injustice and folly of persecuting a valuable family of birds for the misdeeds of less than a fourth of its number is so preposterous that another attempt to clear the situation is justifiable. THE DESTRUCTIVE SPECIES (SEE COLOR PL.^TE XVI ) Among hawks, the guilt for poultry, game, and bird slaughter practically falls on two rather small groups, most mem- bers of both groups being among the comparatively rare hawks. The whole genus Accipitcr, consisting of the Gos- hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Sharp-shinned Hawk, are savage, bloodthirsty, and cold- hearted slaughterers, and are responsible in large measure for the anathema that is the portion of all hawks. Of these the Goshawk (A. atricapilltts) .is at once the largest and most destructive. It inhabits only the northern wooded portions of America, coming south in winter to a line extending from Virginia to central Cali- fornia, and farther south in the moun- tains. This intrepid bird has frequently been known to chase a fowl into a farm-house and make its kill in an inner room (see page 459). It is a forest hawk and is seldom seen far from the cover of woods. It feeds on birds in preference to all other food, with rabbits as second choice. On northern game preserves it is coming to be a grave nuisance and has seriously menaced the small remaining numbers of Heath hens on Marthas Vineyard. Its rarity over most of the country is its one redeeming feature, unless we can admire its intrepid courage and its great beauty, ignoring its destructiveness. The Cooper's Hawk (A. coo peri) is the most important species as a destroyer of game and poultry. It is a common species everywhere in North America, living in the woods, whence it makes short, swift sallies, returning immedi- ately with its prey. It is seldom appre- hended at work and is known chiefly by its accomplished depredations. It is a bold, cunning, and destructive hawk, and is, more than any other species, responsi- ble for the work which has given all hawks a bad name. \\'hile most of its daily kill is among the birds of the forest, it is a serious nuisance on the farm, tak- ing toll of 3"oung chickens, ducks, and pig- eons, but being hardly powerful enough to tackle successfully the grown birds. This hawk can usually be told by its flight, which is accomplished by three or four sharp flaps and a short sail, repeated as long as it is in sight. When it soars, its circles are small, and the long tail and rounded wings give it a totally dif- ferent appearance from the "soaring hawks" of the red-tail and red-shoulder type. It is almost the exact counterpart 462 THE XATIOXAL GEOGRAPHIC JfAGAZIXE Photograph from Louis Agassiz Fuertes THE SHRIKE ON HIS LOOKOUT His business is to espy the passing falcon afar, and by his excitement and clamor to inform the trapper of the hawk's approach (see text, page 435)- of the smaller Sharpshin, whose habits are equally destructive, but the quarry is smaller, in keeping with the size of the bird. THE BIRD-KILLING EALCONS ARE NOT COMMON The long-winged true falcons, which include the Duck Hawk or Peregrine, Prairie Falcon, and Pigeon Hawk, as well as the powerful Gerfalcons of the far north, are all great bird-killers, and it is fortunate that they are nowhere common. These splendid birds all kill on the wing, ignoring sitting prey, and while we must admire the skill, speed, and grace with which they strike and the nobility of their courage, it is true that they do much damage on game covers and preserves, appearing in numbers when game be- comes abundant. The Gerfalcons are too rare to be eco- nomically important, but the Duck Hawk is found in small numbers all over America and must be considered an un- desirable bird. It can take care of itself, however, rarely falling to the gun and avoiding traps with uncanny skill. In the more arid portions and in the mountains of the West the pale-brown Prairie Falcon is not rare. This species is less partial to water and feeds exten- AMERICAN BIRDS OF PREY 463 / Photograph by Howard H. Cleaves A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE MOMENT OF ITS STRIKE Note the phenomenal reach of leg of this bird of prey, a species widely distributed and commonly known as the "Henhawk." The name does it an injustice, for it deserves to be encouraged and protected as an enemy of rodents and destructive insects. sively on desert quail, jays, and other birds of its inhospitable habitat. The Pigeon Hawk is really much like a tiny peregrine. It can catch the fleet and elusive sandpipers and plover along shore and is usually encountered follow- ing the migrating flocks in spring and fall. This little falcon varies its diet and improves its record by consuming large numbers of crickets, grasshoppers and beetles, but it is a willing and capable ogre when song birds abound, and one seldom comes to hand that has not plenty of evidence against it in its crop. Among the owls, the Great Horned, or "Cat Owl." does practically all the dam- age for the family. Big, powerful, ag- gressive, and fearless, he finds no diffi- culty in helping himself to the farmer's poultry whenever he feels like it, when allowed to roost outside. A muskrat trap, set baited or bare on a convenient perch near the chicken yard, is a cruel but practical way of determining who has been thieving, though sometimes a Barred Owl, ratting around the barns, falls victim to this method. These, then, are the real culprits, if placed on a profit-and-loss basis. The beneficial species outnumbers those on the "black list." THE BENEFICIAE SPECIES' (sEE COLOR PLATE xv) By far the most important group of rodent-killing birds is the very group to which we have mistakenly given the com- mon name of "Henhawk" and "Chicken Hawk," a most unfortunate error and one most difficult to undo. It may be stated broadly that the big, conspicuous hawks we see sitting, eagle- like, on tall snags above the green of the woods, or in exposed positions from which to view a large area, or sailing in broad, majestic circles high in the sum- mer sky, are not the ones we may blame for our losses, but are the ones we have to thank for holding in check the vast and all-but-overwhelming army of field- mice and other destructive mammals which keep agriculture near to the un- profitable point. These pests are difficult and very expensive to fight by artificial means, and the soaring hawks are their one great and efficient enemy. Next come all the owls except the Great Horned, which, indeed, must have 464 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ^lAGAZINE From a painting by I,ouis Agassiz Fuertes OF Tlilv SFA'EX OWLS OEDIXARILV ENCOUNTERED IN THE UNITED STATES, THE ONEY OXE THAT DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD IS THE GREAT HORNED While most of the others occasionally kill a bird, they are, as a family, decidedly helpful to man, killing vast quantities of mice, rats, gophers, and squirrels. They see by day just as well as other birds. AIMERICAX BIRDS OF PREY 465 some credit, as he, too. kills his full share, but in addition to a diet of valuable prey. Of the Bnteos, or "Soaring Hawks," the big Red-tail is the commonest and most widely diffused, and consequently the most important. Almost universally dubbed "Henhawk," this valuable species is universally persecuted and shot on sight. Let us take the summary of Dr. Fish- er's examinations of 562 stomaches of Red-tails from all over the United States. Of these. 89 were empty, leaving 473 which carried evidence. Of these, 54 contained poultry or game, 278 contained mice, 131 other mammals (28 species of destructive mammals), t,/ batrachians or reptiles, 47 insects. 8 crabs, and 13 oftal. If a Red-tail is caught in the act of killing poultr}" it should be shot, as it "has the habit."' The above record shows plainly, however, that the preponderance of evidence is vastly in favor of the spe- cies, whose size and appetite make it a most effective and valuable ally of the farmer in his fight against the mice and rats that menace his labors. All over the West another large and conspicuous hawk is found, which is a great killer of vermin, particularly of small rodents. This is Swainson's Hawk, whose record is absolutely clean, its whole food being divided about eciually between small mammals and insects. THE RED-SHOULDER SHOULD BE EXCni-RAGED Another very common and widely dis- tributed "Henhawk" is the Red-shoulder. This bird has an even better record than the Red-tails. Some 200 examined re- vealed only 3 which had eaten poultry. 12 small birds, 14s mice and other inain- iiials, 92 insects, and a number with mis- cellaneous food. Mr. Alden Loring. who watched a pair of this species that nested near a poultry farm, savs: "The pair reared their young for two years about 50 rods from a poul- try farm containing 800 young chickens and 400 ducks, and the keeper told me he had never seen the hawks attempt to catch one." This hawk deserves to be encouraged to the utmost, and both it and the Red-tail should be relieved of the false title by wiiich they are so generally known and designated, either by their proper names or as "Alousehawk,'' and accordingly treated. The Broad-wing, the small member of this group, does not often fall into the hands of farmers and gunners, as it is a forest hawk that seldom leaves the shade and shelter of the woods. Its particular claim to man's protection lies in its par- tiality to the large, fat caterpillars of the big Cecropia, Polypheimis, and similar large moths that defoliate the forest trees. It also, of course, consumes quan- tities of iield-mice, voles, and shrews, and small snakes are favorite food. The two Rough-legs feed almost exclu- sively on mice. The eastern Rough-leg comes to the northern States only in win- ter, and is not common enough to be of much economic importance. Of 45 stom- achs of this species containing ■food, 40 contained field-mice and 5 other small mammals. Over all western America the Ferru- ginous Rough-leg, or "Squirrel Hawk," is a fairly common and very important species. With the utilization of large areas through irrigation, the ground-squirrels of the Citclhis group have multiplied enormously, and not only cost the region millions of dollars in the grain and pro- duce consumed, but do untold damage by burrowing in the irrigation dikes, caus- ing floods to pour over the land at times when they are fatal to crops. By far the most effective enemy of these pestiferous rodents is the Red Rough-leg, or "Sc[uir- rel Hawk,'' and. as with the less desirable species, it has responded to the abundance of food, and has within comparatively few years become the principal check upon the greatly increased numbers of destructive ground-squirrels. TLIE OSr'REY, OUR L.VRGEST HAWK The Osprey. or Fishhawk, as its name implies, feeds exclusively upon fish. It is our largest hawk, being almost as im- pressive on the wing as the Eagle him- self. Its food consists almost wholly of the sluggish fish, such as carp and suck- ers, and it is in no sense a competitor of the angler or the commercial fisherman. It is our most picturesque bird of prey and should by all means enjoy perfect immunity and protection. England, now almost without Ospreys, 466 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE © Howard H. Cleaves AX OSPREY, OUR I^ARGEST HAWK, RISING FROM A STRIKE This is America's most picturesque bird of prey, and on the wing is almost as impressive in appearance as the eagle. Feeding exclusively on fish, the bird checks itself directly over its quarry when sighted. With wings folded and talons wide open, it descends, sometimes burying itself in the water with the force of its impact. In the above photograph the hawk is seen rising from the water after striking a decoy fish anchored to a stone. would give much to rehabilitate this beau- tiful creature if it could do so. Rut let us realize that it is virtually impossible to reestablish any species when it has once become locally extinct. And here let us take heed in the case of another fine species, one with every patriotic and sentimental reason for its most sedulous protection — the White- headed, or "American," Eagle. For the past year this noble species has been placed upon the black list in Alaska and, far from being protected, a bounty of 50 cents a head has been placed upon it. This had resulted, up to January, 1920, in the killing of some 5,000 eagles in Alaska. It is charged that eagles interfere with the salmon fisheries and kill large num- bers of young deer, sheep, and goats, and on this plea one of our most beautiful and interesting species is threatened with early extermination in the one region where it is, or was until recently, suffi- ciently common to give a thrill to the visitor. It would seem that the mere fact that it is the universally recognized em- blem of our nation should give this fine species protection wherever it is found in America, and that no local interest, until thoroughly substantiated by expert Fed- eral investigation, should withdraw it from the safety of complete Federal pro- tection. The Marsh Hawk has not quite so clean a record of achievement as have most of the foregoing, as out of 115 stomachs 41 contained bird remains, of which 7 were game or poultry ; 79 con- tained small mammals, the preponderance of which were meadow-mice. Thus, while it is mainly beneficial, it does kill quite a proportion of feathered food. Last, but very important, comes the common little Sparrowhawk. As small as the smallest, his abundance and wide distribution make it necessary to reckon with him. The American Sparrowhawk AMERICAN BIRDS OF PREY 467 is a little falcon, related to the Kestrel of Europe, but, unlike the European Spar- rowhawk, an inveterate bird-killer, re- lated to our Sharpshin. Our little fal- con, the most ornate and beautiful of American hawks, is of invaluable service to agriculture by virtue of his fondness for grasshoppers. Occasionally he catches a bird ; about a third of his diet is mice, but far the largest part is insects. Dur- ing June, July, and August, when the young are being raised, they are fed over their weight daily on grasshoppers. The service rendered by owls is even less appreciated than that of hawks, be- cause they are mostly nocturnal, and hence are seldom heard and almost never seen. Owls are quite as expert mousers and ratters as the diurnal birds of prey, and the Great Horned is the only one which deserves a consistently bad repu- tation. The Barred Owl lives almost exclu- sively on field and white-footed mice, writh chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, craw- fish, and insects to vary the menu. The Barn Owl, common all over the warmer parts of America, is exclusively a rodent feeder, and is lOO per cent bene- ficial, while both the long-eared and short-eared species are in virtually the same category, the Long-ear foraging in and around the margins of wooded areas and the Short-ear frequenting the wet meadows and marshes for voles, shrews, and mice. Everywhere the commonest of all, the little Screech Owl, is the bird that most people hear and recognize. His soft, quavering call and velvety tooting are familiar and welcome sounds to those who know him, for he is the one owl that can and does survive with the taming of the land. Indeed, he seems to thrive best in the more thickly settled farming regions, nesting in the "woodlot" or orchard, in the village parks, or in the more wooded estates in the suburbs of large cities. No bird of prey has a more varied list of food than this smallest of our com- mon owls, as the following summary will show: Of 212 stomachs examined, 39 contained feathers, 112 small mammals, too insects, 2 lizards, 4 batrachians, i fish, 5 spiders, 9 crawfish, 2 scorpions, 2 earthworms, and 7 "miscellaneous." The beautiful Snowy Owl, which comes in winter to the northern portions of the United States, has in some curious man- ner had protection specifically withdrawn from it and stands on the list of unpro- tected "vermin" on the game laws of the land. Out of 26 evidence-bearing ex- aminations, 20 revealed injurious mam- mals and II had feathers among their contents. This is surely in favor of the Snowy Owl, which in winter is fre- quently seen along the seashore or on the ice-edge on the Great Lakes. A PLEA FOR THE farmer's AIR SCOUTS Is there not some direct way to bring before the agricultural and economic forces of our land their true relation to our birds of prey? It is surely short-sighted voluntarily to destroy the greatest natural check on the greatest natural enemies of our greatest natural resource, and it would seem that merely proving the point that the birds of prey do even a little more good than harm would be sufficient to insure them complete protection. But it is easy to show that they are, all in all, of very vast value to our rural interests, and that their beneficial offices would be multiplied exactly in proportion to their increase under adequate protection. It is largely our conservatism, the un- willingness to give up an idea that has long had lodgment in our minds, com- bined with the apparently complicated problem of "which is which," that has made the valuable species suffer from the misdeeds of the noxious ones, until now the situation is in many places really critical. The time is not far away when one of two things must happen : Either proper and adequate protection luust be granted and enforced, covering all birds of prey except the Goshawk, Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Pigeon Hawk, Duck Hawk, and Great Horned Owl, the whole country over, or we shall soon find it too late to avail ourselves of their in- estimable services, and must find new, costly, and far less efficient means of protecting our rural interests from the hordes of rapidly multiplying enemies that will continue, in ever-increasing numbers, to wage war upon agriculture. 468 THE EAGLE, KING OF BIRDS, AND HIS KIN By Alexander Wetmore Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution With Paintings from Life by Maj. Allan Brooks The Geographic presents in this issue the fifth of a series of paintings descrip- tive of all important families of birds of North America. The first (Humming Birds, Swifts, and Goatsuckers) appeared in July, igs^! the second (Ibises, Herons, and Flamingos) in October, 1932; the third (Crows, Magpies, and Jays) in January, 1933, and the fourth (Woodpeckers) in April, 1933. The sixth of this series will be published in an early number of the National Geographic Magazine. — Editor. THE eagle, symbol of bold strength and courageous character, has been used so widely as an emblem of power that, by name and by effigy, birds of the group to which it belongs are known familiarly to many who have little experi- ence or conception of them in life. Eagles and their many relatives among the hawks and vultures are distributed throughout the world, except over the open seas, the barren Antarctic Continent, and the smallest and most isolated of oceanic islands. Wherever found, they appeal even to the novice in knowledge of things outdoors because of their manner of life and predatory habits. Robust of form and strong in flight, they are remarked at every appearance. The emblem of the Sumerian city of Lagash, in the third millennium before the Christian Era, was an eagle, which was engraved on the tablets and seals of the leaders and was carried as a military stand- ard by the army. An eagle also appeared on the seal of the King of Ur, and con- tinued in double-headed form in Hittite art, on certain coins of the Mohammedans, on the flags of Turkoman princes, and so on into modern times. The eagle symbol is probably derived from forms similar to our golden eagle or closely allied to that species, as several species of that type are found in the re- gions mentioned. To early Greeks the eagle was the mes- senger of Zeus and the only bird that dwelt in heaven — a fancy based, perhaps, on the high-flying powers of these birds. A silver eagle standing on a spear was placed on the military standards of the legions of Rome, and this emblem has been used widely as a conventional badge of military power. To-day it is a common decoration on flagstafifs in many countries. An American species of this group, the bald eagle, is found in the design of the coat of arms of the United States, which appears on the Great Seal. A representa- tion of it is blazoned on many of our coins and decorations. It also appears on the President's flag, and on the Presi- dent's seal in the bronze plate on the floor of the vestibule of the White House. The fierce harpy eagle (Harpia har- py ja), a bird of dauntless courage, called by the Aztecs "the winged wolf," is en- graved on the official coat of arms and seal of Mexico and appears on the flag of that country. *It is distinguishable from our species by its prominently crested head. CONDOR appears ON COATS OE ARMS The great condor of South America figures in the coats of arms of Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile. The eagles and their kin form the group of birds of the order Falconiformes, which includes about 288 distinct species, with many additional geographic races, so that in all there are recognized somewhat more than 700 living forms. The order is di- vided into four principal families. The eagles, hawks, kites, and their relatives, forming the family Accipitridae (Plates HI through XHI), include the largest number of forms. They are mainly birds of medium to large size, with broad wings, strong legs, feet armed with sharp claws, and strongly hooked bills. Many possess light-colored eyes, which, with their active interest in any movement that might indicate possible prey, give them a fierce and aggressive appearance. Although many have rapid flight, others are slower and more sluggish in habit. Most of them delight in soaring in great 43 M THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Photograph by David T. Griggs YOUNG EAGI^ES TAKU OFP FROM THi;iR NEST IN ALASKA In three years these birds will perfect their plumage and they may live to be centenarians. Eagles are not popular with Alaska fishermen, for they take heavy toll of the salmon going up streams to spawn. circles high above the earth, where they are conspicuous and are visible for long distances. Some of the species of this family are among the largest of flying birds. FALCONS CAPABLE OF SWIFT FLIGHT The falcons, with their relatives the caracaras, the family Falconidae (Plates XIV, XV, XVI), in general are smaller in size than the members of the other group of hawks, and have longer, more pointed wings, which give them swifter flight that may be maintained at high speed for long distances. Though some, such as the chimangos, or carrion hawks, and the caracaras, may be in part carrion feeders, the majority, the true falcons, are fiercely predatory hunters, in the true sense of the word, whose appearance strikes terror among other birds. The bill of the falcons, sharply pointed at the tip, has a project- ing tooth on the margin that is of assist- ance in tearing their food. The New World vultures, family Ca- thartidae (Plates I and II), although hawklike in form of body and spread of wings, have relatively weak legs and feet which are not used to seize or carry prey. Their beaks, though strong, are not prom- inently hooked, and except for their flying muscles these birds are far less powerful than their relatives. These are the scavengers among birds, for whom no food is too repulsive, that spend their days in scanning the surface of the earth for dead creatures on which they may feast. They are confined to the Americas, the carrion-eating vultures of other lands belonging to the Accipitridae. The secretary bird, the only living spe- cies in the fourth family, Sagittariidae, one of the most remarkable birds of the entire order, stands nearly four feet high, having long, slender legs like those of a heron. Though it has strong wings, it ordinarily runs on the ground, traveling at need with great swiftness. It is found only in Africa, from the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and Senegambia to Cape of Good Hope Province. It feeds on snakes, lizards, and various other animals, often killing them by stamping on them with its feet. THE EAGLE, KING OF BIRDS, AND HIS KIN 45 Photograph by William L. Finley A FULI<-GROWN CAI^IFORNIA CONDOR ENJOYS A SUN BATH He differs from the South American members in dress, but not appreciably in size. His head and neck are much more colorful and there is no caruncle, here shown gives this bird marvelous powers of flight. The tremendous wing spread The most aberrant types in the entire order are the American vultures, which are far removed from the hawks and eagles and in some ways have peculiarities that set them off from most other birds. Aside from the peculiar types just men- tioned, the various species of this order are fairly uniform in build and form, differing principally in length of legs, grasping power of claws, and size and degree of robustness of bill. Thus, the bill of the eagle is strong and heavy, but that of the everglade kite is extremely slender and elongated. The bateleur eagle (Terathopius ecau- datus) has the tail so short that it does not project beyond the wings — an anomaly in a group that as a whole has long, strong tail feathers. In spite of this peculiarity, the bateleur sails with ease, using its wings as planes, though it is said to have diffi- culty in keeping aloft when there are no wind or air currents to assist it. One of the striking phenomena of some of our American hawks has been the fall migrations, in which hundreds, or even thousands, move together in southward flight. Years ago, in eastern Kansas, in the pleasant weather of October, it was usual to encounter flights of red-tailed and American rough-legged hawks, in which these splendid birds drifted steadily across the sky for hours in never-ending procession. Occasionally, attracted by rising currents of air over some hill slope, they paused to wheel in enormous spirals. MIGRATION OF SOME HAWKS SPECTACULAR Often I lay on soft grass, in the warm sun, watching several hundred of these hawks turning slowly through the sky, some at such an elevation that they looked no larger than swallows. On occasion I have seen similar flights of the Swainson's hawk of the western Plains, these birds traveling in bands on migrations that carry them far into South America. The migration flights of the sharp- shinned and Cooper's hawks in the East are better known, though they are seen only in favored localities. Point Pelee, which projects as a long peninsula from the Canadian shore of Lake Erie, for many years has been famous for its hawk 46 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Photograph from C. M. Wagner and W. Boesser NEW JERSEY OSPREYS MADE WISE CHOICE OE HOME SITE From their nest in an old telephone pole in Middlesex County the birds have a clear and unobstructed view of the surrounding country and easily may detect the approach of an enemy. flights. In October, 1931, in the course of a few hours, I saw there several hun- dred sharp-shins drifting down with the north wind, alternately flapping their wings and sailing with pinions outstretched, passing without pause out over the waters of the lake toward the distant American shore. While there were never many in sight at one time, they passed at intervals of two or three minutes in a steadily moving stream. Elsewhere in the fall I have ob- served Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks scattered over the entire sky, moving steadily toward the south. These flights of hawks are most marked in fall, for in spring the birds seem to travel north- ward over wider areas. At a number of places it is regular practice to shoot these birds for sport, and many thousands have been killed in this manner. Occasionally, as near Cape May, New Jersey, they are used for food. The different spe- cies of the hawk group vary widely in the extent of their migra- tions. Some, such as Swainson's hawk, make journeys that carry them from the western Plains south into Argentina, while others, such as the sparrow hawk, may be cjuite sedentary except in the northern sec- tions of their range. In general, birds of this group withdraw at least in part from the extreme northern areas that they in- habit, probably be- cause food becomes scarce and difficult to obtain. The gyr fal- cons, however, are typically northern, never coming far south, and rough-legged and allied hawks course over the northern plains in the greatest extremes of cold weather. FLIGHT METHODS VARY Flight in the hawklike birds varies con- siderably, according to the kind. Eagles, the large hawks, and the vultures, both of the New and Old Worlds, have broad wings which they flap slowly. Frequently they soar with set wings, utilizing air currents rising from the heated surface of the earth, or currents generated by winds. These birds frequently soar for hours with scarcely a wing beat, turning and wheeling in the sky, often at such THE EAGLE, KING OF BIRDS, AND HIS KIN © Wright M. Pierce COASTING HOME The American osprey is a strong and graceful flyer. When about to land at the nest he sets his wings and coasts in (see "The Nest Life of the Osprey," by Capt. C. W. R. Knight, in the National Geographic Magazine for August, 1932). Drawing by Hashime Murayaraa TWO TYPES OF FEET FOUND IN THE HAWKLIKE BIRDS The foot of the osprey, at right, illustrates the development for grasping and holding, characteristic of the predatory forms of falcons and hawks. The foot of the turkey vulture, at left, is a weaker type, fitted for walking and perching and not for seizing living prey. The inset shows an enlarged view, magnified four times, of the spines on the foot pads of the osprey, which enable it to hold slippery fish, an arrangement found only in this species. 48 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE © Press Cliche TRIBESMIJN 01? RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA SET OEF FOR A DAY'S SPORT WITH THEIR HUNTING EAGLES A REMINDER OF THE DAYS WHEN Photograph by Capt. CoUingwood Ingram HAWKING WAS THE SPORT OF KINGS Very few practice the sport now, but in medieval days it was an aristocratic pastime, with more than one royal devotee. The falcon has just dispatched its quarry on Salisbury Plain, England. THE EAGLE, KING OF BIRDS, AND HIS KIN 49 altitudes that they appear as mere specks against the blue The turkey vulture is a well-known spe- cies that is particu- larly adept in this art. In fact, it finds this method of progres- sion so adapted to its needs that frequently it remains in its roost through the day when the air is heavy and still. The falcons have longer, more pointed wings, that enable them to fly with great speed, and, though they may enjoy soar- ing, they do not prac- tice this so constantly as the other hawks. The larger species can capture the swiftest- flying sandpipers and ducks on the wing without the slightest difficulty. THE DUCK HAWK IS A DESPOT OP THE AIR The flight of the duck hawk, perhaps the best known of the falcons, is truly exhilarating to watch, as it is executed with a dash and vigor that mark it from that of all other birds. On the Bear 'River marshes, at the northern end of Great Salt Lake, in Utah, I have spent many hours in observing this falcon, both in its hunt- ing and when at play. The birds at rest perched in low wil- lows, or on logs or bits of drift, where they had clear view of the teeming bird life about them. When hungry, they dashed across the open flats at high speed, striking ruthlessly at any birds that ap- peared, from small sandpipers to large ducks. Their appearance in the air was always the signal for chattering cries of alarm from blackbirds and avocets that put all Photograph by W. Iv. Finley and H. T. Bohlman ALMOST READY TO EEAVE HOME This young golden eagle is about ready to fare forth from the eyrie, which has been his home for two months, and start learning how to make a living for himself out in the world. His parents are stern but effective teachers, and when they finally drive him away he will be well versed in the lore of the wild. their bird neighbors on the watch. These warnings had little effect, however, as the duck hawk, killing practically at will, was truly despot of this realm. I have seen this falcon dash through closely massed flocks of flying sandpipers, striking out two or three with as many thrusts of the claws, allowing each bird to drop and then wheeling swiftly to seize the falling prey in mid-air before it reached the ground. Again, I have seen one in a stoop, swift almost as light, knock a redhead duck to the ground, where it landed with a broken wing and other injuries. THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE ^ ■» Jili^rl(?PiiRii K- Photograph by Dr. A. A. Allen SWALLOW-TAIIvBD KITES SOAR AND CIRCLE AI ^■■■^^K^^^^^^^BI fe^TJ! ^^^ ^H^^M^t!' r '' ^ ■ >• . ■ r '-^ui ^^^^^. '-,%' , ' K ■ ; . A^--- -/*^,. ^5^ ^^__^__^^_ 1 y 4 •^ Kfl df f ^f^ ^^, . # ■ ' '■ X ■ '"•''^*.^i&^ ^ '.'- .' iH-kV ' i ^ ' Ef^' ^.--v™ \i : : '- .•7 .,,-..^:-;;-^-<^ ^ u H - :''*' if>-- £^^ ■ V ■ .«i^'V .^w ^^A-^'l ?Hu^l r^' ^^^ ^m^^m A^^'^L. "c^ v^i^'^' F^ ^^H r#S^#*l^^ ■ N^/' > ^H V" I^K^^I^^H^H ^-<^:"^^^ ' ■ J"' \. \ i^,^^«*?s:i^('®A ji!^*^' . ^K9^|^K, ■'■■■•' 1 - " V ^I^ttfl BHf i^C' ^H '^ ^^a^ ^ \ ^ ^^jj^ ^^^^^m 39^^ ^^^pl i5iB^^ W ^M '% ^^'^'^ii tJ^OL SiV ^^ - . %'fi''^. Hr ^H 4.H\^ m^'^Mi^m^^K^^Bi W . IB Photograph by Dr. A. A. Allen A PAIR OF DUCK HAWKS HAVE CHOSEN FOR THEIR NESTING PEACE A HIGH AND SECLUDED LEDGE NEAR TAUGHANNOCK FALLS, NEW YORK STATE The eggs were laid on the shelf of rock in the lower left foreground, where the young birds may be seen. One of their parents keeps a watchful eye out to see that no danger threatens them. The falls are 215 feet high, which is higher than Niagara Falls. In warm weather, proponents of the scent theory have concealed bodies of ani- mals SO that they could not be seen, and claim that in a short time, as the car- casses became odoriferous, turkey vultures gathered. Even though the carrion was so concealed in buildings or under other cover that the birds could not get at it, they remained on hand, attracted by the odors, in the attempt to locate this potential food supply. Experiments dealing with this matter began in the days of Audubon and have been continued by other naturalists until the present day. There is not the slightest question but that the turkey vulture will find food that is concealed in such a way as to be en- tirely invisible to a bird overhead, even though such a bird may be only a few feet distant. However, in most alleged instances of location by scent, keen sight has probably played some part. That the turkey vulture is an observant creature, with keen perception where food is concerned, is obvious if one watches it a little, though there may be doubt as to the extent of its intelligence in other respects. These birds regularly patrol beaches to obtain dead fish, and recently have learned to watch the modern hard- surfaced roads, where speeding automo- biles are constantly killing small birds, snakes, rabbits, cats, and other animals. Also, they seem to know that the 56 THE EAGLE, KING OF BIRDS, AND HIS KIN 57 movements of men through the country will bear scrutiny, as frequently men leave behind them food in the form of animals killed, or ofifal from large bodies that have been butchered. To test this, it is necessary only to sit on the open ground while skinning a rabbit or some large bird, and if you are in a region where turkey buzzards are common, it will be only a few moments until one or two are wheeling overhead. If there is promise of food, they remain ; if not, they continue their search elsewhere. In South America yellow-headed buz- zards {Cathartcs urubitinga) have fol- lowed me into woodland where I was seated on the ground entirely concealed and engaged in examining birds that I had killed for specimens. The buzzards alighted a few feet away to watch me curiously. I have had buzzards come to eat the flesh from carcasses of their own kind which I had skinned where I had shot the birds. Possibly this was unin- tentional cannibalism, as there was nothing about the bodies to distinguish them from the skinned bodies of any other birds. There can be no doubt that the buzzard has learned to watch the actions of dogs whose activities may indicate the presence of carrion concealed in caves or holes. There is also the probability that the pres- ence of buzzing flesh flies that breed in carrion may be an indication to the buz- zard of a concealed food supply. There- fore, admitting that the turkey buzzard has a well-developed olfactory nerve, and thus might be expected to have some sense of smell, to me present evidence indicates that it finds its food mainly, if not en- tirely, through its acute sense of sight. man's hand is against the hawk tribe The hand of civilized man has been raised universally against the hawk tribe, and birds of this group are shot or other- wise destroyed at every opportunity. It is rare, indeed, for hawks to come within gun range of a hunter without receiving a charge of shot, and they are killed in many localities by setting steel traps on the tops of posts or poles that the birds utilize as perches. In England it is the duty of game- keepers to kill all "vermin" that appear on the property under their charge, hawks being included in this category. On a large estate near the Thames I once saw a "keeper's larder" where, near a frequented path, the gamekeeper had hung up his kills for display. These included the drying skeletons of sparrow hawks (a species related to the American sharp-shinned hawk), kestrels (allied to the American sparrow hawk), magpies, and jays, with a few small predatory mammals. Belief in the destructiveness of hawks is almost universal. In most minds there is no distinction between hawks that habitu- ally prey on birds and may destroy a cer- tain amount of game, and the sluggish, heavy-flying species that feed consistently on wild mice and other destructive rodents, and so are beneficial to man. The game commissions of many States have offered bounties for the heads of hawks and have expended hundreds of thousands of dollars in the destruction of untold thousands of them. The result is that in the eastern half of the United States these birds have decreased to less than a tenth of their former abundance. Since the decrease has aflfected the bene- ficial kinds even more heavily than those that are classed as injurious, there has been an increase in destructive rodents formerly held in check by hawks, with the result that these animals have done severe damage to agricultural interests. The Cooper's hawk and the goshawk are the principal species that are destruc- tive to game, with the marsh hawk to be added in certain localities where pheasants and other game birds that range in the open are concerned. It may be permis- sible to keep these hawks in check, and to include among those to be killed the occa- sional individual of the red-tailed hawk or other species that acquires the habit of coming to the farmyard for chickens. There is, however, no excuse whatever for the widespread slaughter of all kinds of hawks that has been the fate of these birds for years. Sportsmen have justified the indiscrimi- nate killing of hawks on the ground that they were conserving game ; in other words, with the excuse that they were providing more game for men to kill. Nowadays, with nature lovers, who do not hunt, equal- ing sportsmen in numbers, some consider- ation may be given to the rights of those who enjoy seeing hawks alive and study- ing their interesting ways, aside from the value that most of these birds have from their beneficial food habits. 58 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Photograph by William L. and Irene Finley WEIGHING FROM 20 TO 25 POUNDS, THIS OIh\i: Society BLACK VULTURE Upper Appruxiniately unc-L-iglUh iiatury,! size TURKEY VULTURE Lower n EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES 67 BLACK VULTURE (^Coragyps atratus atratus) The black vulture is distinguished from the turkey buzzard, even at a distance, by its short, square-ended tail, and by the peculiar method of flight in which the wings are flapped rapidly, followed by a short sail with stiffly extended pinions. Large light patches across the ends of the wings form another prominent mark for field identification. The black vulture subsists on carrion, and often gathers in greedy hordes that soon leave the bones of large carcasses picked clean. It is active and aggressive, and at its feasts will drive away the meeker-spirited turkey vulture. It is said to kill young chickens, young pigs, and lambs when opportunity offers, so at times it may be quite destructive. Occasionally it utters a low, guttural note, quickly repeated, that is barely audi- ble a hundred yards away. Because of their scavenger services, these birds are seldom molested and often become so tame as to be almost domestic, coming into towns to feed familiarly with dogs on refuse in the streets and barely moving aside to avoid passing animals or men. They often frequent heron and pelican rookeries, where they pick up dead fish be- neath the nests, and also swallow young birds left unprotected. The nest is placed on the ground, usu- ally under dense bushes, but occasionally in hollow trees, logs, or recesses beneath bowlders. The eggs rest on leaves or on the bare ground. Where abundant, the birds often breed in colonies. Two eggs constitute the usual set, with one or three found occasionally. The color is light green, spotted rather sparingly with brown and lavender. The young when hatched are covered with buff-colored down quite different from the white found in the turkey vul- ture. The nestlings are fed entirely by regurgitation. These birds are not known to carry food or any other object, either in the feet or in the bill. The black vulture is found from west- ern Texas, southern Illinois, and southern Maryland south into Mexico and Central America, being recorded casually north of its regular range. An allied form is known in South America. TURKEY VULTURE (Cathartes aura septentrionalis) A master of the art of soaring, the tur- key vulture or turkey buzzard wheels in the sky by the hour, turning in lazy circles and spirals, seldom moving the wings ex- cept to adjust them to the air currents through which it moves to maintain its elevation. Although graceful on the wing, when at rest all attractiveness of appear- ance is lost. With broad wings folded against its rela- tively slender body, its bare head and its awkward attitude, the buzzard seems un- couth or even repulsive. Like other members of the family, it subsists on the bodies of dead creatures, eaten fresh or in advanced stages of de- composition. I have had them come to tear the flesh from the body of a dead bird that I had just skinned, and have found them feasting on putrid flesh. WINDLESS DAYS KEEP THE BUZZARD AT HOME Turkey vultures by day cover wide areas in search of food, and at night gather to sleep in some tract of woodland, several hundred often congregating in one roost. In early morning they sit with wings ex- panded to catch the warmth of the sun, and on dull, cloudy days, when the air is still, may remain in their roosts through- out the day, as without moving currents of air they find flying difficult. The turkey vulture places its nest in some recess beneath large bowlders, in a hollow log or tree, or in sheltered situa- tions beneath shrubs. The handsome eggs, usually two in number, rarely one or three, are creamy white, spotted with brown and lavender. Occasionally one is found with- out markings. The young bird when disturbed utters a curious growling, hissing call, like some angry cat, turning its back the while and striking the ground sharply with the tips of its spread wings in a manner that is truly startling. The adult is silent except for a hiss made by expelling its breath from the windpipe. The turkey vulture ranges from south- ern British Columbia, Wisconsin, and cen- tral New York south into northern Mex- ico. Closely allied races extend through Cuba and Central and South America to the Falkland Islands. The bird has been introduced into Puerto Rico. 68 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE {Elano'ides forficatus forficahis The swallow-tailed kite, delighting in its aerial powers, spends hours on the wing wheeling and turning without apparent effort. The deeply forked tail, the white plumage, and black wings and tail form un- mistakable marks for field identification. This species feeds extensively on snakes and also eats lizards and large insects. All food is seized expertl}' in the feet, and the birds customarily eat while flying, tear- ing their prey apart with their bills. They are believed to be entirely beneficial. The nest of the swallow-tailed kite is built in trees, often from 60 to 125 feet from the ground, and is composed of twigs and moss, the nesting material being seized while flying. Two eggs generally constitute a set, although from one to four may be found. These vary in ground color from dull white to a delicate cream, and are spotted and blotched with brown. The call is shrill and high-pitched, being heard mainly during the nesting season. Formerly this beautiful hawk was com- mon throughout the eastern United States, but in the last 30 years its numbers have lessened steadily, and now it is found mainly in the southern section. The species breeds locally from Minne- sota, Indiana, and North Carolina south into Florida and eastern Mexico, winter- ing south of the United States. An allied form is found in Central and South America. MISSISSIPPI KITE (Ictiiiia inisisippiensis) The Mississippi kite is another species that spends hours in the air in tireless movement. The food of this bird consists princi- pally of insects, with occasional reptiles and frogs. I once encountered a band of a dozen coursing over a range of low hills, and at intervals darting clown to seize a cicada. Held in the hawk's foot, the in- sect buzzed protestingly until, without a pause in the bird's flight, it was swallowed. The Mississippi kite builds a small nest composed of twigs, in part with leaves still attached, placed in trees from 25 to 60 feet from the ground. The birds breed in May and June, later in the season than most species of this family. The eggs number two or three and are pale bluish white, without markings, though often stained by the decaying green leaves of the nest lining. Only one brood is reared each season. The immature bird in the first fall is whitish below, streaked with dark brown and huffy. This kite nests from northeastern Kan- sas, southern Illinois, and South Carolina south to Texas and Florida. In winter it is found from Florida and Texas to Guate- mala. It has been noted casually from Colorado to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. WHITE-TAILED KITE (Elanns Icucurns majusculiis) Like related kites, this species is master of the air and flies with extreme ease and skill. It delights in high winds, breasting them like a gull without the slightest diffi- culty. It is found over tree-dotted prairies and savannas, marshes, and semi-open A-alleys. Though fifty years ago it was common, it has decreased steadily until now it is to be classed among our unusual birds. Despite the fact that it has been afforded protec- tion in recent years, the species does not seem able to increase. The white-tailed kite, in feeding, fre- quently hovers with rapidly beating wings over one spot for several minutes, watch- ing the vegetation beneath closely, ready to pounce down whenever prey appears. It lives on small snakes, lizards, frogs, and large insects, and seems to be entirely beneficial. The note of this kite is said to be some- what like that of the osprey, but terminat- ing in a guttural or grating sound. The nest, built of twigs and lined with soft materials, is placed from 25 to 50 feet from the ground. The eggs, varying from three to five, are creamy white, heavily marked with blotches of brown. The young have the plumage tinged with brown and are indis- tinctly streaked above. The white-tailed kite is found in Cali- fornia from the upper Sacramento Valley and Humboldt County, south to northern Baja California, and from Texas, Okla- homa, and Florida to Guatemala. An allied race ranges in South America, and similar species are found in the other inhabited continents. EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES ) National Geographic Society Approximately oiic-cighth natural size SWALLOW-TAILED KITE Perched and flying adults, above WHITE-TAILED KITE MISSISSIPPI KITE On ground at left Perched at right and flying in distance III THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Upiicr EVERGLADE KITE adult perrhei! :iiirl immature flying Appioxmiately oiif-ujjjtuh natui-al size MARSH HAWK Lower ; female at tiest \\-ith young; male (lyinj^ rv EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES 71 EVERGLADE KITE (RostrJiamiis sociahilis phimbeus) This resident of fresh-water marshes is suggestive in form, white rump, and method of flight of the much larger, lon- ger-tailed marsh hawk. It enjoys soaring, frequently ascending to considerable alti- tudes, but does not have the graceful, accomplished flight of our other kites. The everglade kite is sociable, and, where plentiful, a hundred may be observed to- gether. In Florida, however, it has been so reduced that flocks are unusual. The birds utter a rasping, chattering call of little volume, and are especially noisy during the mating and nesting season. For food this kite depends on the large fresh-water snails belonging to the genus formerly called Ampullaria, known now as Pomacea. The kite seizes them in its long claws and bears them away to some low limb or mound, where, with the slen- der, sharply hooked bill, it draws the snail from its shell. Occasionally the kite extracts its food as it flies, dropping the shell when empty. I have seen accumulations of dozens of the shells gathered beneath favored perches. So far as known, this kite eats no other food. Such extreme specialization in diet is unusual among birds. The slender form of the bill and the claws, developed for this peculiar habit, is remarkable. The everglade kite in Florida nests from January to May, the season varying lo- cally. The nest is made of small twigs placed in a myrtle or other bush, in the top of a clump of saw grass, or, rarely, in a tree, being usually at only a few feet elevation and ordinarily above water. The eggs number two to five or rarely six, two or three making the usual set. The ground color is pale greenish white spotted with rusty brown, the spots in most cases being so numerous as almost to conceal the lighter base. The young of the everglade kite are fed on the same large snails relished by the adult, the par- ent usually bringing food in the crop and feeding its family by regurgitation. In the United States the everglade kite is found only in Florida. To the south it ranges in Cuba, eastern Mexico, and Central America, and a closely allied race occurs in South America as far as Ar- gentina. MARSH HAWK (Circus hudsonius) The marsh hawk, an inhabitant of open country, ranging over prairie regions, grasslands, and cultivated fields, is marked by its slender form, long tail, and a promi- nent white spot on the rump. Except dur- ing migration or in mating season, this bird seldom flies far above the ground for any great length of time. It is entirely predatory, feeding on mice, ground squirrels, and other small mam- mals, as well as snakes, lizards, frogs, and insects. In addition, it captures a good many ground-inhabiting birds, especially in summer and fall, when young birds are about. At times it kills game birds and in some localities, particularly where pheas- ants are stocked, the marsh hawk has proved a pest. In general, however, it is beneficial, and should not be destroyed except where it is found to be actually injurious to game. A FEATHER EUEF ADORNS THIS HAWK As a peculiar feature, the face in this species is surrounded by short, stiffened feathers forming a ruff like that found in owls, a feature that is present in no other group of hawks. The marsh hawk places its nest on the ground, usually in a marsh or on a prairie, ordinarily at the foot of a bush or a clump of grass, and in marshy ground on a tussock. It is composed mainly of dried weed stems and grass, sometimes with a foundation of twigs, lined with fine grasses and feathers. From four to six eggs constitute a set. These are pale greenish or bluish white in color, usually without markings, though at times blotched and spotted with brown. The male is attentive to the female during incubation, bringing her food, which she often rises to seize in the air as he drops it. As is often the case with ground-nesting birds, the young wander about on foot near the nest before they are able to fly. The marsh hawk breeds from north- western Alaska, central Quebec, and New- foundland south to northern Baja Cali- fornia, southern Texas, and southeastern Virginia. In winter it is found from British Columbia and the northern United States south to the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Colombia. 73 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK * (Accipitcr vclox z'elox) This small hawk, one of the most widely distributed of the group in North Amer- ica, is an inhabitant of thickets and wood- land. It may be readily identified by its short wings and long tail, the square end of the latter distinguishing it from the larger Cooper's hawk. Though fiercely preda- tory, flying swiftly in pursuit of prey, this bird spends long periods in resting quietly in trees or bushes. As it usually perches among limbs or leaves, it is often overlooked until it flies. The sharp-shin feeds almost entirely on birds and is highly destructive. Although it preys mainly on small species, such as sparrows, warblers, and similar forms, it does not hesitate to attack birds as large as itself, regularly killing quail, mourning doves, and flickers. In southward migration in fall, these hawks often follow definite lines of flight, so that thousands may pass leisurely by certain points in the course of a few days. Sometimes during these flights stuffed owls are used as decoys to attract the hawks, so that they may be shot. The sharp-shinned hawk makes a bulky nest of twigs, sometimes without an inner lining, but often with a slight padding of soft bark or a few feathers. The nest is frequently placed in pines or spruces against the trunk of a projecting limb from 20 to 50 or more feet from the ground. SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS WII*«^A) Ai^^A ^^^V"-A i ri'?- vm EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES 79 BROAD-WINGED HAWK (Buteo platypterus) The broad-wing, smaller than the red- shoulder and red-tail, lives in woodlands, where it is seen only by those conversant with its habits, as it perches usually under cover of the leaves. In soaring it fre- quently rises until it is nearly out of sight. Swampy woodlands and broken country covered with forests are favorite haunts of this species, and as the trees are cleared it decreases in abundance. It is entirely inoffensive in its habits. Except in migration, comparatively few are shot, as most depart for the South be- fore the season for fall hunting. The food is mainly mice and other small mammals, frogs, reptiles, and insects. It eats small fish occasionally, but seldom takes birds. Large caterpillars are a reg- ular item in its diet. It is partial to grass- hoppers, crickets, and large beetles, and has been known to eat centipedes. It must be considered beneficial and worthy of every protection. The nests of the broad-wing are con- structed of twigs, placed in a large tree, often at a considerable elevation. Green leaves are often found in the nest, and some birds add fresh leaves to the nest lining nearly every day. The eggs range in number from two to five, with two or three as the usual number. They are dull grayish white, or occasionally greenish, spotted more or less extensively with dif- ferent shades of brown and lavender. Occasionally these birds will dash at an intruder. I remember distinctly, as a small boy, the start that one of these hawks gave me by swooping at my head as I sat on a limb beside its nest, high above the ground, admiring the eggs and the nest construction. The ordinary call is a shrill, double-noted whistle high in pitch, which is accompanied by chattering, scolding notes. The birds vary considerably in color and markings and occasional individuals are found that are entirely black. The broad- winged hawk nests from cen- tral Alberta, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia south to the Gulf coast and central Texas. It migrates south to northwestern South America, wintering mainly from southern Florida and southern Mexico southward. Allied races are found in the islands of the Lesser Antilles. SWAINSON'S HAWK (Buteo sivainsoni) Swainson's hawk lives in regions where tree growth is scant. Though strong in flight and delighting in soaring, it spends hours resting on some open perch where it may watch the country. Except when it has been unduly persecuted, it is tame and unsuspicious, allowing close approach without taking alarm. The food of this hawk is varied and in- cludes more insects than usual in a bird of its size. It feeds extensively on grass- hoppers in late summer and fall, and also eats mice, rats, lizards, snakes, frogs, and rabbits. Though on rare occasions it may attack poultry, it is considered one of the most valuable hawks in the West in its relation to agriculture. Swainson's hawk nests in trees or on cliffs, where its bulky home, composed of sticks, is often visible at a distance. The eggs, varying from two to four, are green- ish white or yellowish white, spotted with brown and lavender, occasionally being without markings. HAWK AND SONG BIRD NEST IN SAME TREE In the regions of scanty tree growth in- habited by these hawks, it is a regular oc- currence to find an isolated tree with nests of several species of birds clustered in it. Western kingbirds and Bullock's orioles often nest within a few feet of the large structure made by Swainson's hawk, and all live in harmony. Indeed, the home of a kingbird has been found located among the coarse sticks in the base of the hawk's nest. In migration, both north and south, these hawks often gather in straggling bands, from 500 to 2,000 birds having been noted in such groups. This hawk, like some of its relatives, has distinct light and dark color phases, these being illustrated in the flying birds of the opposite plate. Swainson's hawk has three of the outer primaries with the inner webs cut out or indented near the tip, and the red-tail has four. This difference will always serve to distinguish these birds in the hand. This species breeds from British Co- lumbia, Great Slave Lake, and Manitoba south to northern Mexico, and is found in winter in South America. Stragglers have been taken at many points in the Eastern States. 80 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE AMERICAN ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (Buteo lagopus s.johannis) From its summer home in the north, the American rough-leg comes into the United States in fall migration, often traveling in flocks. As the name indicates, the rough-legged hawks differ from our other species in having the leg feathered to the toes. The American rough-leg is large and powerfully built, but, in spite of its strength, it feeds principally on mice, lem- mings in the north and meadow mice in the south being staple foods. Rabbits are eaten where they are abundant, and large insects, such as grasshoppers, are eaten occasionally. The bird is entirely harm- less, as it seldom kills other birds or poultry. This hawk nests in the far north, rang- ing there in open country, seldom coming into densely forested areas. The nests are composed of sticks, the cavity lined with dr}^ grass and feathers, and are built on ledges along bluffs or are placed in trees. The same location may be used for years, and the nest grows in bulk until it is of large size. Eggs are two to five in number, with three or four making the usual set. They are pale greenish white, fading to dingy white, spotted and blotched with brown of different shades, and shell markings of lavender and gray. One brood is reared each season. FEATHER EEGGINGS KEEP OUT THE COLD The birds vary considerably in colora- tion from light to dark, but may always be distinguished by the feathered legs, or tarsi. The feather growth is heavy, par- ticularly in fall and winter, so that the severest cold may be withstood. In the West they remain in the Northern States during the coldest weather of winter. The note, heard mainly during the nest- ing season, is a low mewing call, suggest- ing the sound made by a young kitten. The American rough-leg nests from the Aleutian Islands, the Arctic coast of Alaska, and northern Quebec, south to northern Alberta and Newfoundland. In winter it is found from southern British Columbia, Colorado, and southern On- tario south to southern California, Texas, and North Carolina. Closely allied races are found in Europe and Asia. FERRUGINOUS ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK / (Buteo regalis) This handsome hawk, so large that it is often called an eagle, is found in regions of prairies and plains, avoiding heavy tim- ber. It lives only in the western part of our continent, and in uninhabited sections still remains fairly common. However, when an increase in agriculture takes place in any part of its nesting ground, it is crowded out. In much of its range it is known as "squirrel hawk," as ground squirrels and prairie dogs form a considerable part of its food. It also eats many pocket gophers. Birds, particularly meadowlarks, are cap- tured during the summer season, and an occasional grouse may be taken, but these hawks are not known to hai'm poultry. They also eat large snakes. They are considered beneficial because of their de- struction of harmful mammals. Frequently hunting in pairs, they cap- ture game that might otherwise escape. In hunting prairie dogs, the hawks rest until the animal is away from its burrow, when one gets between the prairie dog and its hole, thereby making capture an easy matter. The birds are strong and pow- erful and can carry rabbits to their nests with ease. The nests are placed on cliffs, on sloping hillsides, or in trees, sometimes in locali- ties difficult of access, sometimes where they can be approached without trouble. They are often occupied for years, and occasionally grow to large size, Taverner recording one about ten feet high. They are composed of sticks, those in the base being often of large size, with a lining of grass and other soft materials. The eggs are two to five and are green- ish or creamy white, blotched and spotted handsomely with brown and lavender. One brood is reared each season. On their nesting grounds these hawks utter screaming calls that have been lik- ened to those of eagles, and the young are said to be quite vociferous. The ferruginous rough-leg breeds from southern Alberta and Manitoba to north- eastern California, New Mexico, and Kan- sas. It is found in winter from California and Montana to Baja California and northern Mexico, and has been observed casually in Wisconsin and Illinois. EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES ) NatioTial (/eoi^Taphic Society ^Mfii«eiW\\tV> CO V) raa«- ^ okOj^^e -b <^^^ ^' ViWi^ fo^'ic^. OoAVvhG, ccior(?,ceQ.^S. 5>cv^^evcub >i\^iVcV>e»>s\ ^ ^'oMbN^'-j ^^ '^^^V.e.^ THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE (g) National Geographic Society Ai)proximat(jly oiiu-leiUh iiuUiral size BALD EAGLE Adult Dei'ched, imniature flying: iu\c(£V| AilultDei'checl, immature flying: ^ v -» » ■. \ /->*>» *Cv<;\-t , Cecil \\y^ \\-c\u^ee ^ -nr.G.cxa^eA^xiNiX WcY-WAa CovoVaj?^^ c. fi', '^t^ S0CCC6LS \t. ""JrW ^n -..^^^V "^^i '^ iee.A \vsve cv CL N^^e '^"^^ V^ XII EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES 87 BALD EAGLE (Haliaeetus leucoceplialus) Our national bird, the bald eagle, chosen in the early days of the Union, is figured on many of our coins, is a favored design in matters of patriotic interest, and in general is considered symbolic of our free- dom. Its enormous size and the striking markings of the adult make it a promi- nent species that is noted on every ap- pearance. A bird of great strength and of swift and powerful flight, it is master in its haunts and has no potent enemies except man. Its life is led in the vicinity of water and only casually is it found far from that element. The food of the bald eagle is mainly fish. In Alaska severe complaint has been made that it destroys salmon during their annual runs up the streams to deposit their eggs. As the salmon cross shallow bars or cascades, leaping from pool to pool, there is no question that many are taken by eagles. Elsewhere the eagle often fishes by plunging from a height, descending at an angle on its selected prey, sometimes go- ing beneath the surface. Rarely it grapples prey so large that it cannot rise with it and is under necessity of towing it to shore. This eagle also robs the osprey, being fiercely predatory in such encounters. Large birds are sometimes captured, in- cluding ducks, coots, and geese. Although the eagle is sufficiently swift to seize them in flight, it ordinarily gives chase on the water, where it is able to tire them by forc- ing them to dive until they become ex- hausted. Although the bald eagle is said to feed on healthy birds, my own experience with it has been principally that it is constantly in pursuit of birds crippled by shooting or injured in some other way. During the hunting season I have often seen an eagle swing over rafts of ducks, which it scatters. Then, if cripples ap- pear, they are pursued, and if none is sighted the eagle passes on to other hunt- ing. The taking of such injured birds can hardly be condemned. These eagles have been said on occasion to kill lambs and foxes, the latter furnishing an indication of the birds' strength. In addition to living food, the bald eagle is prone to search for carrion, following regularly along shores for dead fish cast up on the beaches, and eating dead animals of other kinds as they offer. Because of this habit, many words of opprobrium have been hurled at it. There was much discussion before the bald eagle was finally adopted as our Na- tion's emblem by act of Congress on June 20, 1782 ; Benjamin Franklin in particular favored the wild turkey. In spite of all that may be said against it, however, it must be conceded that the bald eagle is a bird of fine and noble appearance and that it is a master of the air. EAGLES GO IN FOR NEST-BUILDING ON A LARGE SCALE The nests of the bald eagle are large structures of sticks, usually placed in trees, often at a considerable height, though occa- sionally on cliffs, or even directly on the ground. Nests 5 to 6 feet in diameter and the same in height are not unusual, and nests 12 feet high have been recorded. Herrick found that one near Vermilion, Ohio, was used continuously for thirty- four years.* Ordinarily two eggs are laid, with occa- sional sets of three or one. They are white, very rarely with slight markings of huffy brown. Where two eggs are laid, one is nearly always larger than the other. In- cubation requires nearly a month, the duty being shared by both parents. The young remain in the nest for about two and a half months, and during that time the old birds are most solicitous of their welfare and safety. The young bald eagles do not attain the plumage of the adult for three years, and during the first year they are actually larger than their parents. The southern bald eagle, Haliaeetus leu- coceplialus leucoceplialus, nests from the northern United States to Baja Califor- nia, central Mexico, and Florida. The northern bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucoceph- alus alascanus, breeds from northwestern Alaska and British Columbia to the Great Lakes and Nova Scotia, coming in winter south to Washington, Montana, and Con- necticut. A related species, the gray sea eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla, is resident in Green- land, and is found also in Europe and northern Asia. * See "The Eagle in Action," by Francis H. Herriclv, in the National Geographic Maga- zine for May, 1929. 88 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE OSPREY (Pandion haliactus carolinensis) Known ordinarily as the "fish hawk," the osprey is found about large bodies of water. Being dependent on fish for food, it never strays far from water except dur- ing casual wanderings when in migration. Though it may eat an occasional water snake or frog, practically all of its food is composed of fish, most of which it cap- tures alive. In fishing, the bird flies slowly from 30 to 100 feet above the water, scanning the surface closely until a fish is sighted, when it turns and drops swiftly, sometimes even going beneath the surface. Rising with its victim held firmly in both feet, the os- prey pauses for an instant, supported by broad-spread wings, to shake the water from its plumage ; then flies to some perch where its meal may be enjoyed. As it rises, it adjusts its grip so that the fish is carried end on, thus aflfording a minimum of resistance to the air. FISH HAWKS ARB NOT EPICUREAN IN THEIR TASTES Any fish of proper size that come near the surface are taken. Toadfish are as acceptable as other varieties. Such species as menhaden, which go in large schools, are favorites. In summer on Chesapeake Bay I have seen fish hawks feeding regu- larly on eels. The birds have habitual perches to which they carry food, the ground beneath these being strewn with fish bones accumulated from many meals. Where fishermen sort the catch from their nets, I have seen os- preys gather in flocks to pick up discarded dead fish, seizing these from the water or picking them from the sandy beach. Occasionally ospreys are known to strike fish too large for them to handle, and when their claws become caught the birds are pulled beneath the surface and drowned. In its fishing the osprey does not always continue unmolested, as the bald eagle, also with an appetite for fish, often resorts to robbery. Watching until an osprey has made its catch, the eagle descends on the fish hawk, in an effort to make it give up its prey, continuing in relentless pursuit with broadly beating wings until the smaller bird drops the booty. If an osprey is obstinate, the eagle finally strikes, knocking it through the air to make it release the catch. As the fish falls, the eagle descends swiftly to seize it in the air, or picks it up from the surface of the water. On rare occasions an osprey with a small fish may escape, but ordinarily the bird is so burdened that its flight is ham- pered to a point where it can make no defi- nite resistance. Where two eagles combine in this rob- bery, the case is hopeless, for, wherever the osprey turns, one of the eagles is soon upon it and it can find no avenue of escape. The plate illustrates the beginning of such a scene, with one eagle descending on an osprey that has just made its catch, and another swinging about in the background. Relieved of its catch, the osprey may strike angrily at the robber, but the larger bird easily wards off such blows with its broad wings. Occasionally, however, the tables are turned, for when ospreys gather in colonies several may band together and harry marauding eagles from the vicinity. The nest of the osprey ordinarily is a huge structure of sticks, cornstalks, weeds, and other rubbish, placed in the top of a tree, on a rock ledge, on the summit of a pinnacle rock, or occasionally on the roof of a building or chimney. It may also place the nest on the ground. Frequently grackles, night herons, and English sparrows place their nests in the base of the huge structure occupied by the osprey. The larger bird pays no attention to its smaller neighbors.* OSPREYS RANGE OVER A LARGE PART OP THE NEW WORLD The eggs, from two to four, with three making the usual set, are creamy white, spotted and blotched with brown and lav- ender. With their rich colors and bold markings, they are among the handsom- est eggs found in this order of birds. The osprey is easily distinguishable at a distance from the eagle and from other hawks by its white breast and long, angu- lar wings. It breeds from Alaska, Hudson Bay, and Nova Scotia to Baja California and the Florida Keys, wintering from Flor- ida and Baja California to the West In- dies and South America. Allied races are found in the Bahamas and in the Old World. * See "Photographing the Nest Life of the Osprey," by Capt. C. W. R. Knight, in the Na- tional Gi;oGRAPHic Magazine for August, 1932. EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES ) National Geographic Society Approximately one-eighth natural size OSPREV Two bald eagles Hying above Mc^icecVW >J^ KxcV ^vVV Vat t^%<^V\ XIII THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE PRAIRIE FALCON Upper; arliilt perched, iiiiiniilnre ilyiiig >rnU \?\lt xv^ocVu "tu.\\ Appio^iiiiLitfl; UML SL\ ^lUli n lUn il size AUDUBON'S CARACARA LowtT; adult (rij^ht), iiiitnature (left) ^ vjscUsS to;v;:V^o<^ '^et^«>' d^ xw A V:A\-efs EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES 91 PRAIRIE FALCON {Falco mexicanus) V AUDUBON'S CARACARA This pale-colored falcon has the active, graceful flight of the duck hawk. In a way, it is the arid country representative of that species, but may be distinguished from it by smaller size and paler, sandy coloration. The nest is placed on a cliff, being often in a recess or small cave, where the eggs are laid on the bare surface, with only whatever rubbish may have accumulated for nesting material. Two to five consti- tute a complete set, three or four being the customary complement. The ground color of the eggs is creamy white, more or less overlaid with a suffusion of cinnamon, and blotches of reddish brown and chocolate. They are considerably paler than the eggs of the duck hawk. The prairie falcon feeds on birds of various kinds, blackbirds, horned larks, mourning doves, and others of similar size being favorites. It captures quail and prairie chickens on occasion, and also se- cures domestic pigeons where flocks of these are found within its range. I have seen them harry colonies of yel- low-headed blackbirds so mercilessly that these unfortunates set up a loud outcry whenever a falcon appeared in the dis- tance. The prairie falcon also feeds on mammals, taking gophers, ground squir- rels, and various kinds of rats and mice. In addition, it takes insects, particularly grasshoppers when these are abundant. In feeding, these hawks sometimes watch from cliffs or open perches in trees until suitable prey appears, or again fly lightly and gracefully along, traveling rather swiftly as they hunt. They have been known to harry marsh hawks and make these birds drop their prey. The falcon seizes its booty in the air as it falls. About their nesting cliffs these falcons are quite noisy, uttering shrill screams and cackling calls when disturbed. At other seasons they are mainly silent. The prairie falcon nests from southern British Columbia to Baja California and southern Mexico, extending east to the eastern border of the Great Plains. It is casual in occurrence in Manitoba, Minne- sota, and Illinois. A related species is found in the South- west, the aplomado falcon {Falco fusco- coerulescens scptcntrionalis) . (Polyborus cheriway auduboni) Although related to the falcons, this peculiar species, often called "Mexican eagle," has many of the habits and man- nerisms of vultures. It is found in prairie regions where there are open groves, pre- ferring open country to heavily forested sections. Its flight is straight and rapid, and it sometimes circles high in the air, especially on days of oppressive heat. In Florida these birds frequently nest in cabbage palmettos ; in Texas they oc- cupy mesquites and other trees, and in Arizona giant cacti are sometimes selected. The nests are bulky masses of twigs, weeds, coarse grass, leaves, and Spanish moss, usually piled together in an untidy manner. The eggs number two or three, the ground color being creamy white when it is visible. Most eggs have the entire surface obscured by a wash of cinnamon rufous and blotches of reddish brown. This bird eats lizards, snakes, frogs, and small turtles, and also takes small mam- mals. It is fond of rabbits, cotton rats and other mice, and grasshoppers and other large insects. Crabs and crayfish, too, are on its bill of fare. The caracara is also partial to carrion of all kinds, and frequently comes to car- casses on which vultures are feeding. The caracaras make the larger birds stand aside, as they are strong and aggressive, striking with both bill and feet. On the coast of Texas caracaras have been seen in pursuit of brown pelicans to make them disgorge fish that they had swallowed. Caracaras are active on the ground, their long legs and relatively short claws en- abling them to walk and run with ease. Their voices are peculiar rattling, creak- ing, screaming calls, in uttering which the birds frequently throw the head backward until it touches the back. On Guadalupe Island, Mexico, off the western coast of Baja California, there was formerly found the Guadalupe cara- cara, Polyborus lutosits. The last of this species was recorded about 1905. Audubon's caracara nests from north- ern Baja California, southwestern Ari- zona, central and southern Florida, and Cuba south through Mexico and Central America. It has been recorded acciden- tally in Ontario. An allied race occurs in northern South America. 92 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE (Falco peregriniis anatum) The duck hawk, finest of the falcons of our continent, hves in regions where cHfifs furnish it aeries. Truly a master of the air, it kills at will, and its food is composed almost entirely of birds. Resting on a commanding perch or fly- ing easily, the hawk, when its appetite is aroused by some luckless bird, descends with a rush of wings so swiftly as almost to elude sight, and strikes its unfortunate victim Hke a veritable thunderbolt. Ducks, shore birds, robins, meadowlarks, flickers, pheasants, grouse, pigeons, and many others have been recorded as its victims. When it has tiny young, it obtains war- blers, sparrows, and other small birds to feed them. No form of bird is safe from it, as it has been known even to capture the agile chimney swift. A duck hawk comes nearly every winter to the old Post Office Department tower in Washington, and lives on pigeons captured as they fly over the grounds of the Smithsonian Insti- tution or above the near-by buildings. Mammals are seldom taken. The duck hawk usually places its nest on a cliff, often in a spot where it is prac- tically inaccessible. Occasionally it resorts to large hollows in trees, or very rarely to old nests of eagles or hawks. The only nesting material consists of whatever rub- bish may have accumulated on the chosen site, this usually including bones and other fragments from birds the duck hawk has eaten. Three to five eggs are laid, four being the usual number. These are creamy or yel- lowish white, irregularly blotched, streaked, or otherwise heavily marked with various shades of bright brown. The parents are noisy during the breed- ing season, uttering quick, cackling calls. When their nests are approached, they circle rapidly about, harrying unmercifully other birds that chance to pass, and even killing ruthlessly when enraged. The duck hawk nests from Alaska and the west coast of central Greenland to Baja California, Kansas, and Maryland. In winter it ranges south to Panama. Peak's falcon, Falco peregrinus pealci, a darker race, nests on the Aleutian and Commander Islands, coming south in win- ter to Oregon. Allied races are found in the other continents of the world. GYRFALCON "■ (Falco rusticolus) This hunting falcon of the north in early days was the type most prized by the dev- otees of the sport of falconry. Swift in flight and possessed of almost endless en- durance, these birds were desired above all other hunting hawks. They range far beyond the limits of tree growth, apparently to the limits of land. They become so accustomed to resting on the ground or on rocks that in captivity they actually seem to prefer such locations to a perch. The gyrfalcons of North America ap- pear to like birds better than other food, capturing them ordinarily on the wing. In the far north they often nest in the vicinity of colonies of auks, great piles of whose bones accumulate beneath the gyr falcon homes. From Labrador to Alaska these falcons are the scourge of the ptarmigan. They also capture gulls, guillemots, shore birds of various kinds, and snow buntings, as well as lemmings and Arctic hares. On St. George Island, one of the Pribilof group in Bering Sea, Hanna records that one winter gyrfalcons came in abundance and nearly exterminated the little wren and the rosy finches. The gyrfalcon nests on ledges on the face of clififs, placing its eggs on accumu- lations of its own pellets, or, where there is woody vegetation, it sometimes occupies nests of sticks. The eggs, usually three or four, are creamy white, very heavily marked with reddish brown, and are among the most handsome eggs of their group. Nesting may come in May in the far north, so that the nests are frequently hung with icicles. The races of gyrfalcons found in North America are in some confusion because of the considerable variation in color among these birds. In Greenland there is found the white gyrfalcon, Fa/co rusticolus candi- cans, which alsO' has a dark phase in which the plumage is mainly gray. This race may breed also in eastern Arctic America, and is casual in winter south to British Columbia, Montana, and Maine. A darker form, varying from gray to nearly black, known as the black gyrfalcon, Falco rusti- colus obsoletus, nests from Point Barrow to Labrador, and in winter ranges south into the northern United States. EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES © National Geographic Society Approximately one-se\'enth natural size Upper; adults (lelt), three young (right) WHITE GYRFALCON l.. Young RLACK GYRFAI.CON ;^*^; i^^i^^i^^oivs LVo towiv, ><^eV =^>^t <^^Ae V4C-.6V-VM, 'i^wS^ jL^^^t ^'- ■^^*^- XV THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE ) National Geoffraphii. Society raphii. Society , - a Ul'ipcr; male (ri,!L,'hl) female in nesting- hole X , (A^aK* '^sn« Sv^WiVvXvi\-£S Nov ^-H-vK^I ^ V)cw. >aeV ^eV ^^i^'-^ ISV" [( !\ tinp si\lh natural size An XpIHti nil i[( !\ tine si ^lOEOIJ IIAWK J Lower; adull male (right), imiiiaLure female (leit) EAGLES, HAWKS, l |PARROW HAW ^V" {Falco sparverius) The handsome sparrow hawk, most fa- miliar of American falcons, has adapted itself readily to the changes brought by our civilization, being so evidently harm- less that it has escaped much of the de- struction aimed universally at its larger companions. It is equally at home in the diverse environments found between the green pasture lands of the east and the arid cactus forests of Baja California. The sparrow hawk feeds principally on mice, large insects, lizards, and frogs. On occasion it attacks birds, and may kill quail, jays, or other birds as large and heavy as itself. About cities it destroys many English sparrows and starlings. Often it hovers in the air with rapidly beating wings, intently watching the grass below until a mouse or other prey comes far enougrf*out in the open to be caught. CITY LIFE SEEMS TO AGREE WITH THE SPARROW HAWK The sparrow hawk nests in cavities, old nesting holes of the flicker or other large woodpeckers being favorite shelters, and has come to occupy bird boxes about houses. It frequently lives in cities, and in Washington is found about the roofs of the Smithsonian buildings. The num- ber of eggs in a set ranges from three to seven. They vary in ground color from vv^hite to cream and cinnamon buff, spotted and blotched with brown. The call of this hawk is a rapidly re- peated killy killy killy, from which it is often known as "killy hawk." The eastern sparrow hawk (Falco spar- verms sparveriits) nests from the upper Yukon, southern Quebec, and Nova Scotia to northwestern California, eastern Texas, and northern Alabama. The desert sparrow hawk (Falco s. phalaena), which is somewhat larger and paler, breeds from southern New Mexico and southern California south into Mex- ico. The San Lucas sparrow hawk (Falco s. peninsularis) , smaller in size, is found in southern Baja California, and the little sparrow hawk (Falco s. paulus), also of small size but darker in color, resides in Florida and the Gulf coast region. Allied races range through the West Indies and Central and South America. AND VULTURES 95 ^tteS ON HAW J (Falco columbarius) The pigeon hawk derives its name from its curious resemblance to a pigeon in cer- tain attitudes, or in mannerisms of flight that it may assume, though at other times it is obviously and unmistakably a falcon. It is found in wooded areas or in semi- open country, depending upon where its search for food may take it. It is a bird of swift and graceful flight and travels at high speed with little apparent effort. Like related falcons, the pigeon hawk feeds extensively on birds. Its speed of flight and its strength are attested by its capture of swallows and even of the chim- ney swift, and its killing of meadowlarks, flickers, and small doves. Mice are taken occasionally and large insects more fre- quently. When not hungry, this active little hawk delights in chasing birds merely to display its mastery, threatening but not actually harming them. Jays and crows may be the butts of this sport, or again the hawk may pursue flocks of sandpipers. When in search of a meal, its whole action changes and it kills speedily and ruthlessly. The pigeon hawk builds a nest of twigs and bark lined with softer materials, and places it in a tree, often only a few feet above the ground, on a rock ledge, or occa- sionally in a hollow tree. Four or five eggs constitute a set, being pale creamy white, with a wash of reddish brown and spots and blotches of deep brown. About the nest the birds utter piercing cries and chattering, scolding notes. The eastern pigeon hawk (Falco colum- barius colmnbarius) nests from eastern Canada to Maine and Manitoba, migrating in winter to the Gulf States and northern South America. The black pigeon hawk (Falco c. suck- Icyi), blackish brown in color, nests in western British Columbia, wintering in the coastal region south to northern Califor- nia. Richardson's pigeon hawk (Falco c. richardsoni) , lighter in color than the or- dinary form, is found from Alberta and Saskatchewan to Montana and North Da- kota, wintering from Colorado to north- western Mexico. The western pigeon hawk (Falco c. ben- direi), darker than Richardson's, breeds from northwestern Alaska to California, in winter ranging to Mexico. 96 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE GIGANTIC STONES WHICH HAD BEEN PLACED AS COVERS OVER MANY TOMBS AT RAS SHAMRA PROVED SERIOUS OBSTACLES TO THE EXCAVATORS MORE THAN 3,300 YEARS AGO THESE JUGS OF WINE AND OIL WERE BURIED WITH A SYRIAN KING FOR HIS USE IN ANOTHER WORLD MY FLIGHT FROM HAWAII 609 fresher. However, they still concerned mariners' weather. Nautical observers are not equipped or trained to give information exactly as jlyers wish it. What does a sailor care about the height of clouds or how the winds blow at 10,000 feet? The meteorological assistance rendered me on the Pacific flight indicated the ac- curacy that can be attained in the science with trained personnel and a new theory of forecasting. In Honolulu I wa^ fortunate in obtain- ing the cooperation of Lieutenant E. W. Stephens, U. S. Navy, aerological officer at Pearl Harbor. Lieutenant Stephens, who was responsible for plotting the weather for the Navy's successful flight to Hawaii a year previously, worked with us early and late. Ten days before the take-off he con- structed a hypothetical weather map em- bracing much of the Pacific Ocean and western America. That chart — a thing of highs and lows, swirling isobars, barometer and temperature readings, wind direction^ and velocities — he made as he felt it should ' be when I started. Then we waited for the gods of weather to adjust their caprices throughout this far-flung territory so that their handiwork would at least approximately match our ideal. FRIDAY THE GOOD WEATHER DAY After digesting the data that came in by radio from vessels, from tiny islands scat- tered eastward of Hawaii, from Pacific- coast stations. Lieutenant Stephens on Wednesday remarked: "It looks like Fri- day. I think things will work out by then." They did. And because of his satisfac- tion with the outlook when Friday came, I decided to start, even though that was against advice received from California. The consoling fact is that I found condi- tions substantially as predicted by Lieu- tenant Stephens, even on the California coast. Just now much attention is being directed to the pending possibilities of airlines oper- ating across the Pacific. Momentarily the center of interest has shifted from the Atlantic. But over whatever ocean sched- uled air transport may pioneer, a vital fac- tor in its establishment will be the develop- ment of meteorological data. With what we now know about weather and with the in- stant communication of radio, it is not at all impossible, with proper preparation, to command a picture of upper-air conditions prevaUing at any given hour over even extended routes. One can also forecast what will "come in" during the time elapsed in the making of a flight. PLYING THE ATLANTIC AND THE PACIFIC The western frontier of the United States lies 2,400 miles from the mainland. Though this stretch of water is several hun- dred miles greater than the shortest land- to-land distance of the North Atlantic, it probably presents less formidable hazards for the flyer. Of course, no definite state- ments on this score can be made until after considerable research on weather and more actual flight data are recorded. Further, what is applicable to an individual flight such as mine does not necessarily hold true for transport operation. For general comparisons North Atlantic and mid-Pacific weather disturbances are similarly severe at times, but probably ice- \ formation danger is greater over the At- lantic. The shortest course from America tdy Europe, followed by most flyers so far, ha^ been somewhat north of the normal steaii^er lanes. From Honolulu to San Francisco or Los Angeles the route lies directly over that traversed by ships — a definite advantage. To me it seems that regular air transport across both oceans is inevitable, and will probably coii\e about sooner than most people suspect. Probably used in such long-range service will be the new radio compasses. These are extraordinary "gadgets," which actually lead a pilot to a selected point, guided by radio operating at that destination. This uncanny "homing" device is grad- ually emerging from the realms of experi- mentation into that of proved practi- cality. One, the Kruesi compass, after Army testing ashore, has recently been tried out over the Pacific in flights insti- gated by Eugene L. Vidal, Director of Air Commerce. Another variety of the new instrument, the Lear compass, is being installed in my own plane. With this latest addition to my already generously populated instru- ment board, I anticipate instructive expe- rience in this most modern means of finding one's way in the air. 610 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE ON LAKE OR CRAGGY SEACOAST MAY DWELL A BOLD WORLD WANDERER Here on the Monterey cliffs above the foaming Pacific lived a family of duck hawks, American form of the peregrine (meaning "alien" or "wandering") falcon. Its cousins were the noble birds of falconry's heyday in old England. Another relative, tJie prairie falcon, a lover of mountain ranges and arid plains, is the American representative of the!T««if|' a desert falcon fiown in olden times by Oriental potentates. WEEK-ENDS WITH THE PRAIRIE FALCON A Commuter Finds Recreation in Scaling Cliffs to Observe the Nest Life and Flying Habits of These Elusive Birds By Frederick Hall Fowler With Illustrations from Photographs by the Author TWELVE times a year I present my- self before the ticket window of our local railroad station in California, slide through the necessary coin, and cry: "Without!" Back through the window comes a monthly commutation ticket to the distant city — "without" Sundays. Sundays are mine to do with as I will, and for several years I have willed to spend them far afield. Formerly Sundays and the latter halves of Saturdays had shown a growing tendency to get mixed up with all the other days — days on which with ceaseless care I pursued my interesting but exacting profession of civil engineer, computing with endless labor the stresses in dams and beams, the yield of rivers, and the peaks of floods. "Without!" was fast losing all signifi- cance. A change was imperative, and that change took me back to an interest of my not-too-distant youth — the pursuit of birds. Before long I was renewing my acquaint- ance with that interesting bird, the prairie falcon,* in the canyons extending eastward in the Coast Ranges and opening into the northern San Joaquin Valley. Let me introduce him as he presented himself to me one breezy day when I was making my way along the base of a nesting crag (see page 622). Suddenly the male swept over the crest, saw me, gave a prolonged scream, and started upward. He did not spiral up in long circles, as these birds usually do, but in short loops and at as steep a pitch as his wildest efforts would permit. Up, up he went, with an occasional breathless scream, until he was fully 300 feet above me and probably half again that distance down wind. With a few last up- ward-reaching wing strokes he attained his pitch and balanced for a moment to turn toward me. * See "Eagles, Hawks, and Vultures," by Alex- ander Wetmore, with 30 portraits in colors by Allan Brooks, National Geographic Magazine, July, 1933. Then, with a few more strong wing-beats, he started down like a stone from a sling. Once on his way, he closed his wings until they were not more than one-quarter open and held as motionless as the vanes on an arrow. His tail, also, contrary to the ideas of many bird artists, was closed nearly to a point. His head, with beak pointing straight at me, was in such a position that I could note perfectly the dark markings, or "mus- taching," so characteristic of the falcons. One hundred feet above me, sensing that his aim was perfect, he closed both wings completely and came like a bullet. At 30 feet I forgot all I had ever learned of a falcon never striking a man, and ducked. At the same moment he opened his wings very slightly, set his rudder upward, and whizzed by, not more than ten feet above my head. His speed upward appeared nearly as fast as during his descent, although at first he did not fly a stroke. When the momentum of his swoop had expended itself, he fought his way upward as before and came at me again, this time down wind. It was a wonderful opportunity to observe just how a falcon must look to a fleeing meadowlark that gives one last glance over its shoulder before the fatal stroke. PHOTOGRAPHING A BIED'S HOME LIFE With a still and a movie camera, instead of the gun of my earlier years, I stalked the prairie falcon. Finally I set out to watch and record the nest life from the laying of the eggs until the young take wing. It soon became evident, however, why the falcon's eggs are a prize of the collector. Two years passed before I found a nest within a reasonable distance of my home that was not robbed within a week after the eggs were laid. This "nest on the cliff," as it came to be known in our pilgrimages, was high on a sandstone ledge in the head of a small canyon near the top of a ridge — a region of mountain pastures nearly 2,000 feet above 611 612 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE A SIX-FOOTER CAN VISIT THESE FALCONS ONLY IN A PRAYERFUL POSE "This hurts me more than you," the author may truthfully remark to the young ones visible or} the ledge. At the cost of barked shins and bumps on the head he climbed up each week, gently /lifted the youngsters into a box, and took them to the base of the cliff to be weighed and photo- graphed for science (see illustration, opposite page) . sea level (see page 617). The two previous years the eggs had been stolen by "party or parties unknown," and the falcons, without laying a second time, had frequented the various cliffs in the neighborhood for the rest of each summer and well into the fall. This time, although the day was April 1, we were not fooled. Our sudden appearance over the crest of the ridge was greeted by a slight move- ment on the ledge and a long and angry scream. There, across the canyon, but not SO yards away and almost level with us, was the falcon, rising slowly from its eggs and screaming an angry protest. Running a few steps, she launched out from the edge of the ledge and circled above us, screaming. Once or twice she set sail, as if to return to the nest, but changed her mind and re- mained on the wing. AT LAST — THE REDDISH EGGS! At least four reddish-brown eggs lying in a shallow depression in the sand and small fragments of rock at one end of the main ledge could be seen through the field glasses. Their rich coloring reminded me of the description once given by a small boy I had lowered over a bluff to report on the con- tents of another falcon's nest. "Four eggs," he called. "What color?" I asked. "Gee, I don't know!" Then, after a moment's pause, "Just the color that makes you want to reach out and grab them! " Even the protracted screaming and high flying of the female had not brought back the male, who was probably absent on some distant hunt ; but when the cliff was revisited in the afternoon he appeared quickly in answer to her short alarm cry, and circled and screamed overhead at a great rate. He was overburdened with a tremen- dously full crop, however. This made him look like a pouter pigeon, shortened his breath, and forced him to rest on the dead limb of an oak tree down the canyon. The perch, we found, was one of two favorite lookouts used by both birds. We were back at the cliff with rope and camera less than a week later (April 7). This time the old bird stuck to her nest like a setting hen, while we scrambled around on WEEK-ENDS WITH THE PRAIRIE FALCON 613 JUST TWO AND A HALF OUNCES OF SLEEPY FALCON Here at the tender age of three days he could keep his eyes open for only a moment. He fre- quently lost his balance and curled up as if still in the shell while tape and camera were recording his size (see illustration, opposite page). But all at once he began to grow amazingly, doubling his weight in the next four days. In 24 days an enormous appetite had boosted the figure to 20 ounces, an increase of 700 per cent! the cliff IS feet above her head and drove in a steel pin to anchor the rope. She finally decided to leave, however, when the loose end of the rope was thrown down the face of the cliff just in front of her. One who has long since arrived at years of discretion, weighs 200, and is not particu- larly fond of high places takes no chances. My anchor pin was a stout three-foot length of drill steel, and to it was attached not only a "hand line," which I firmly grasped, but a "bosun's chair," in which I sat while being lowered straight down ten feet to the edge of the ledge. On the upward journey I would dig my toes into the cracks in the rocks, climb the hand line until my breath gave out, and with the last gasp yell to those above to haul in on the bosun's chair. Gaining the first foothold on the end of the nesting ledge was always a precarious feat, since the rock above overhung slightly. By balancing a moment, however, and get- ting a little slack in both lines, it was easy to swing under, and then everything was safe, comfortable, and cosy. As soon as I had time to get a firm foot- ing and look around, I found the nest con- tained five instead of four eggs — and they were beauties (see illustration, page 614). I could have remained indefinitely, seated comfortably on that sandy ledge, high up the cliff, admiring both the beautiful mark- ings of the eggs and the view spread below me; but the anxious cries of the parents from cliff and tree and the fear of their deserting the nest sent me scrambling back up the cliff and away. The next week-end found me sneaking up behind the sheltering ridge in fear and trembling lest the egg collector on whose bailiwick I was trespassing had been there in my absence. But luck was still with me. The female was on the eggs, sat tight, and let me take a half-hidden seat under a scraggly oak. She was very nervous at first, but betrayed it only by keeping her head well up, like a poorly made wooden decoy, and turning a watchful eye not only on me, but on every- thing far or near that looked suspicious. As her fear wore off, she lowered her head between her shoulders, but did not at any 614 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE FIVE LITTLE FALCONS AND HOW THEY GREW — On a high cliff ledge were laid the eggs, creamy white and heavily marked with chestnut and cinnamon — "just the color that makes you want to reach out and grab them," as a small boy put it. Next appear the downy "quintuplets," nine days old, uttering yawns and faint whistling peeps. At 16 days, four of the five seem too drowsy to hold up their heads. The prairie falcon does not con- struct a nest, but frequently pirates the stick home of a raven or some other bird of prey. WEEK-ENDS WITH THE PRAIRIE FALCON 615 FROM EGG TO INDEPENDENCE IN 33 DAYS In their snowy fleece coats, the 23-day old youngsters (top) rest after a meal of meadowlark. As if ashamed of such a banquet, one hides under the pile. A week later feather growth is well started and they wander to a far corner of the ledge. At 33 days old and nearly ready to leave the nest, they pose for a last close-up (below) — first, peevish "Blackie"; then aggressive "Red"; good- tempered "Green"; solemn "Blue," and "White," just outside the picture (see text, page 621). T3.a g^ (J p— t o rt >-' ■« c i" ^ " o 6 S en ID 5-? O K H ^ _ " 3 J3 S H ^ -2= « S 2 < ■S M Ph QJ -" <: .^1 Q 2 go N iS < tn tn 3 w °s M JH '55 < -*-» o g 8 &J3 w u ^-> 1— I o 3 M ,i3 . H t! '^ l-H r^ S Kl OJ OJ ja-a Hi Hi C3 ^t M {/] <: S5 g ^1 tn H X^ ^ tn ^ >^ H 9 o O rt *ri fk :J Pi .S. H 5^^ H O "U 3 *i; ^ o ^H bc!: ^ C rt C ^H •^ cfl G *- OJ BIH ?^ a cd S) c c q O OJ ^^- CO -a ■S ° c O O cd oj « 's Co in th atter ^ M cd +^ ^ Q n; s-a 2; °T3^ < f Call eagles from 1^ w cfl QJ R W5 ridge 'gold screa I? 8 tted air ol ngry hJ o a rt < T3 v^ P:^ f,l H i -— T3 1— < In (U « ^ ^ "^ M ^ VO " < ver t and re gr£ A< j en Q 1. • ^ 3 ^ L o OJ OJ T3 bJD,^ M N D, - O O 2; M H g 2 ! «SS 2; was 1 illust falco M a> (u OJ ^H OJ JH 3 ^+J < ■S 2 s^ § w - &t3 C/3 (J T3 o K "2 rt +J . N ^B^S > C t, 3 3 O t- in M ■" Vj >..ii < he cliff ledge round squirn it. When the gles shift the -"be n ^ OJ QJ S 1* > O c o "U »i'3J=J3 Wj Dh "i U5 ■*"' V. — ungry urn wil e circle which >- 5= rt -*-> -t^ cd 61? 618 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE time let it hang forward with beak down. Bluebottle flies, attracted to the nest by scraps of meat left by the falcons, were flecked off her head and beak with a quick twitch. THE WATCH ON THE LEDGE An hour and five minutes by the clock I watched, and then the male sailed in, with- out a sound from either bird to announce his coming, and alighted on the ledge about five feet from the female's head. For a few moments after his arrival he uttered low and not unmusical screams and stood with head hung straight down, looking at his feet — a pose more common with the Cooper's hawk than with a falcon. After a few moments he ran quickly along the edge of the ledge to the side of the brooding female, who had not yet recog- nized his presence by movement or call. The moment he arrived, however, she suddenly half-raised, with lower feathers still puffed out, ran quickly out along the ledge, and sailed away without uttering a sound. The male looked the eggs over and started to settle himself upon them in her place, but his smaller size made it more difficult to cover them and the operation appeared to worry him . He hunched and shuffled around carefully, but uncomfortably, and finally tucked two eggs under his breast feathers by nudging them along with his beak. Once fairly settled on the eggs, his anxiety did not seem to end, and he humped him- self up and buckled down to his task as if the eggs had been on springs and might shoot out from under him if he relaxed his efforts for a moment. Within five minutes of getting settled, he suddenly jumped up and sailed off the ledge without a run. I think his scare was due to noticing me for the first time, for no other intruder had approached. SLEEP OVERTAKES THE NEST SENTINEL After perching near by and cackling half- heartedly, he finally returned and settled on the eggs as laboriously as before. He wanted to be wild and wary, but times were too dull. He became sleepier and sleepier and finally dozed off completely. From time to time he awoke to fleck flies off his beak, but only once in four hours did he move his body. Finally the sun began to strike the spot, and after 1 p. m. he kept a sharp lookout for his mate. When she sailed in, about 2:35, he awaited no formalities, but im- mediately jumped from the eggs into full flight. The female looked at me and cackled hoarsely, but soon settled herself on the eggs with little of the difficulty and dis- comfort her spouse had experienced. Soon after, I uncoiled my cramped legs and called it a day. Five and a half hours of steady watching, much of it through field glasses, had been repaid by an interesting glimpse into the division of labor in a falcon family (see iUustrations, page 620). Further observation was delayed for two weeks by a trip east, and when I slid down the rope to the ledge on April 29 I found five amiable young falcons huddled into a single mass of white down, from which heads, legs, and wings protruded indis- criminately (see pages 614 and 615). The covering of down was scant enough, so that their very pink skins showed plainly through it. One or two of them sat up from time to time and preened themselves. They indulged, too, in many yawns and gave faint whistling peeps. Between swoops in front of the cliff the old birds sat in dead trees or on the face of the bluff and yelled their disapproval of me. "baby scales" — FOR YOUNG BIRDS A strong breeze was blowing from the northwest on the afternoon of May 2, when we again visited the cliff, and the male was standing by the nest with his back to the wind, screening the young. On our ap- proach he sailed off to his own particular lookout down the canyon; as I went over the top the female appeared and both began the usual circling and cackling. The youngsters showed very marked growth, had far more down and far less pink showing through, and were much more alert than on my visit three days before. The chalky-white knob, or "egg tooth," on the end of the bill was nearly gone. For identification, I first tried clipping the extreme tip of one claw; but this proved somewhat unsatisfactory because of the growth and wear, so I marked the five with colored strings. With these as guides, a separate weight record was started that con- tinued for the rest of their nest lives, much to the annoyance of the entire family. By the time the ceremonies for the day were over, the young seemed both bored WEEK-ENDS WITH THE PRAIRIE FALCON AMONG FALCONS THE FEMALE IS BULKIER THAN THE MALE Loud screams from the base of the cliff instead of from the nest greeted the author one morn- ing when the youngsters were about 37 days old. All had left the home ledge at the blind and the most enterprising one departed up the canyon when approached, leaving his nest mates for a few final poses. and chilly and were trying to huddle under the scales — a poor source of warmth and comfort. Longing for a series of pictures of the young and parents together, but lacking a telephoto lens, I recalled the inventive Private Jones (familiar to the lovers of Bruce Bairnsfather's wartime drawings), who constructed "Little Plugstreet, The Sniper's Friend," a camouflaged sheet-iron tree trunk. Within it the inventor passed a hair-raising morning, overtaken by day- light and under heavy fire while bogged down in a Belgian turnip field. Our "Little Plugstreet" was a chunk of concrete cast around two boxes set side by side — one large enough to contain a nine- by-twelve-centimeter still camera with a very fine but short-focus lens, and the other a small moving-picture machine. With much tugging and puffing, we lugged this heavy contraption to the top of the cliff and swung it down to the ledge on the quiet morning of May 6, while both parents circled and screamed. Arrival of this large freight shipment on the ledge had the young well bluffed. When I came to interview them they were all backed up against the wall in a "sell your lives dearly, boys," pose, and they opened their mouths in unison every time I made a sudden move. 620 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE FLASHES OF A FALCON FAMILY Mother at the top tucks in her babies, covering them with her warm breast. Just below, father glances around with an air of vigilance before sheltering the young in his turn. Next, he gently feeds the weak, eight-day-old youngsters. At the bottom he loafs. Later the parents are in an end- less rush to obtain food for their offspring. This fright soon wore off, however. The youngsters decided that the one being marlied and weighed was also being fed, and all crowded forward to get their share. FALCONS UNDISTURBED BY "pLUGSTEEET" When finally set in place, Plugstreet faced the nestlings at a distance of six feet; but, although about the size of a cracker box, it did not appear to us greatly out of place against the gray sandstone of the ledge. Whether the old and wary falcons would view it in the same light was another question. As we anxiously watched from a distance, we were delighted to see them both sail in and alight almost on top of Plugstreet without giving this new addition to their furniture the slightest attention. After a few moments they both sailed out, circled twice, and then the female, re- turning to the ledge, scuttled over to the young. They had long been milling around, hungry and chilly, and were happy enough when she gathered them under her. It was interesting to note that she seemed more anxious to warm them than to feed them. On my arrival on May 9 the young were much more warlike and had developed more than during any period so far. The two on the outside of the pile — on the side to- ward me — were suspicious and full of fight, a third was screened by their bodies and hence neutral, while a fourth was completely buried under the pile and did not seem to know that I was around until I finally dragged him out for weighing. The surprise was too much for his disposition, which, by the way, early in life developed a set toward peevishness. He yelled all during weigh- ing, while he was hobbling back to the nest, and then turned and kept on cursing me. As a gentle introduction to the sounds which might be heard the next week-end, a fully wound alarm clock was concealed in the rocks just in front of Plugstreet. Steadily ticking, it made a noise not far different from the well-muffled whir of a movie motor; also, the trip lines for the two cameras were strung from the ledge to a brown canvas blind under an oak across the gully. "Up and at 'em!" was the slogan on the following Sunday morning. It was May 13, and before 9 we were on the ledge and at- taching the camera lines, to the tune of angry screams and hoarse cackling of the parents. WEEK-ENDS WITH THE PRAIRIE FALCON 621 Plugstreet was so located that to sight the camera I had to kneel in front of it, leaning over as if praying to Mecca. While I was in this devotional attitude, with the camera pointed back between my legs, a trial pull on the line started the movie ma- chine. The result was 20 feet of film that shows a puzzled group of young falcons framed between and half hidden by a pair of abnormally large boot heels. Shortly before 1 1 , however, the lines were successfully adjusted and I crawled into the blind across the gulch. A LONG WAIT IS REWARDED For an hour and a half there were no developments. It was hot and flies buzzed sleepily. Ten minutes more and I would have been sound asleep; but precisely at 12:25 the male sailed in past the front of the cliff and screamed musically, but did not land. His approach brought a loud chorus of appeals from the cliff, but they gradually died away as he departed. In five minutes he was back, and lit near the nest to look things over. The young were placing breakfast orders at a great rate, and just as I was about to spring one of the cameras he went off again. At 12:55 he reappeared and, with a few screams to announce the meal, lit on the ledge. He had a meadowlark and, scuttling up to a point between Plugstreet and the young, was promptly surrounded by the whole yelling mob. When they continued their eager crowd- ing, he picked up the game in his beak, dodged back, holding it as high as he could reach, and ran in a half circle around the group to the nest. During this circuit he looked like a pouter pigeon in action. They swarmed about him again, and he had to step lively to avoid being tramped on by his vigorous family. BLACKIE's character WARRANTS HIS NAME My tugging at the camera lines finally parted them, and a loose end, whipped in front of the ledge, sent the watchful bird into the air in an instant. Inspection showed that the regular camera had not gone off, due to the line fouling on a point of rock, but that the movie had nearly run down. The young, which by this time were familiarly known by the colors of their re- spective bands, hissed as usual and for the first time clawed at me ineffectively when I caught them for weighing. Blue was the tamest. Red nearly departed around the corner to the farther extension of the ledge, and Blackie, who on my preceding visit had been found on the bottom of the pile and had shown an evil temper, now yelled vocif- erously, again displaying the mean char- acter that was his outstanding trait in all the time I knew him. By May 16 life on the ledge had changed radically. Instead of huddling together, the young were wandering about. Out on the extreme end of the shelf, seven or eight feet from the nest, was Blackie, who had adjourned from the main party with a meadowlark's wing, which he was indus- triously picking. The remains of one or more ground squirrels were scattered about and all the young were "full to the eyes." Blackie, gathered in with a butterfly net, was deposited in a black bag that I hoped would quiet the birds during weighing. When placed on the scale platform, how- ever, he did a war dance and considerable time passed before quiet was restored. ALWAYS HOPING FOR A MEAL To say they hated that butterfly net was putting it mildly; but, after each one was weighed in turn, they stood around at my elbow and "watched the other boys get theirs." Hope still sprung eternal in their downy breasts that some time I would pro- duce a ground squirrel or meadowlark, and then a general feed would be in order. The young found their voices for the first time for other uses than calling for food, and tried to answer back the old ones, as they cursed us from the cliff and tree. As I was weighing the youngsters a gopher snake came gliding along the rock just be- low the edge of the shelf, and I rolled him over down into the brush at the bottom, where he would do no harm. Within half an hour after I had rigged the cameras and lines and taken my station in the blind, on the foggy morning of May 20, one of the old birds came in with food. A strong pull on the lines exposed the still camera and ran the movie for the full time, but a final tug again broke one of the strings and routed the proprietor of the free-lunch counter. After this feeding the young all wandered down to the end of the shelf (see page 615) for a snooze. Captured in the butterfly net for weighing, they seemed to hate it more 622 o w w (^ « o p^ o w -A M 1-1 < w H r3 be C ^j -a a ,ii! jj" *" ^ S " I^ « K, ^ r^H Jin > ' S G _ r ■o c -H >i ^ jag c ■" c « 5^ o „- « ■3 """I §■« O cd fe (o ■*-» -S ^ O .in ^ " O !S C g 623 624 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE than ever. Blackie, of the evil temper, stood and cursed until I left. The half hour's observation from the blind showed that the young were moving around very freely. Often one would run four or five feet and then exercise its wings. They also kept grabbing at small objects and occasionally pecked at each other play- fully. Eating and sleeping, however, were still their main occupations. Our repeated visits had probably con- vinced the old falcons that expostulation was in vain. They spent less time on the wing and permitted closer approach while at rest. By May 23 the young were so far ad- vanced that the riot usually attendant on weighing would probably have sent most of them flapping down the hillside. The scales and the black bag were therefore laid aside. While pretty well scattered along the ledge, they did not seem particularly timid, and of their own accord lined up in a most satisfactory manner for the family group (see page 615). This, although we did not know it at the time, was to be our last close contact with the family. OFF TO SEEK THEIR FORTUNE When we reached the cliff on the after- noon of May 30, although the male came out to meet us, all of the young had left the nest ledge. Their screams, answering the frantic yells of the parents, finally disclosed two of them sitting on a sunny ridge of a rock about 200 feet east of the nesting ledge and at about the same level. While we watched them, one flew strongly toward a saddle in the hill just above the nest cliff and disappeared behind it. I tried to get near enough to the other to get a picture, but he went the same way when I had approached within 25 feet. With a tail wind, both youngsters set a fast pace in their first long flights. I caught just one more glimpse of them, perched in the sage and withered grass of the hillside, their breasts showing a rusty orange in the afternoon sun. Then they were gone. We located the others resting almost motionless on the opposite end of the cliff from the nest. It was impossible to reach and photograph them. They seemed safe and contented, and so we coiled our rope, cut the camera lines, bade them an affec- tionate farewell, and departed homeward. Flight characteristics observed at com- paratively close range formed a thrilling feature of our falcon studies. No one who has ever worked his way to the crest of a cliff above a falcon's nesting ledge will forget the first wild screams that greet his arrival, the arrowlike rush of the bird as it launches forth into space, turning its head to view the intruder, and the as- tounding exhibitions of wild and headlong flying and swooping that may follow. BUCKING A STRONG WIND The character of the entertainment will depend upon the individual birds, the state of their tempers, and in many cases on the strength of the wind. We visited one cliff during a fierce gale. The female, a very large and strong bird, was sitting on the edge of the old raven's nest she had pirated for a house and ab- solutely refused to launch out against the wind until I suddenly dropped a coil of rope in front of her. The results were startling. As the falcon launched herself, an unusually strong gust of wind caught her from beneath. The first lightninglike stroke of her wings shot her upward, hardly a yard from the front of the cliff and almost within arm's reach. Upward and backward, 50 feet, she went, and then with wonderful and spectacular contortions headed into the gale. That day there was no such thing as circling. The gale was so strong that with wings scarcely opened she was buffeted about like a leaf high over head. Even while thus continu- ally headed into the wind, she had a rough time and frequently a side gust would ruffle her feathers, blow her tail around almost at right angles to her body, and partly capsize her. Often I had opportunity for contrasting the design of modern monoplanes and the structure of swift-flying birds, of which they are more or less crude copies. I never tired of watching a falcon come sailing in from a great distance, with wings held steady and fully extended in a very symmetrical and strongly curved downward bow. A FALSE START IN HOUSEKEEPING I once saw a pair of falcons make a rather interesting false start in housekeep- ing. After a single egg had been laid on a bare shelf, they deserted it completely for no apparent reason and raised their family in a deep pothole 30 feet below. WEEK-ENDS WITH THE PRAIRIE FALCON 62S Another peculiarity in nesting behavior was noted at the "nest on the cliff" in 1929. In- stead of placing their eggs in clear view on the ledge, as they had done the previous year, the falcons chose a pot- hole six feet below it. In this position the eggs could not be photo- graphed, so we shifted the whole set to the old nesting depression. Then for the next half hour we watched one of the keenest- sighted of all birds fly directly past its eggs, clearly visible and very conspicuous on the ledge, and go back in- to the pothole from which they had been removed. While in the pothole the old bird mooned around as sol- emnly as an owl and uttered puzzled clucks. This seems to be a typical falcon reaction, for a fellow observer re- ports that a duck hawk once refused to follow its clearly visible eggs when they had been moved only two feet! It, too, went back to the exact spot where the eggs had been laid. After we had watched the antics of the old bird in the pothole until it was certain she would not follow her eggs, they were put back. Soon after, they dis- appeared and are now probably resting in some collection. THE VARIED DIET OF THE FALCON What is the normal diet of the prairie falcon? To this question there is no definite answer. Food remnants found at one nest by the writer and analyzed through the kind co- operation of Prof. J. O. Snyder, Department of Zoology, Stanford University, by Miss Lydia S. Bowen, then a graduate student, A BOX SEAT ONLY SIX FEET FROM THE NEST From inside the hanging blind the author watched and photographed his falcon friends nesting in the upper cleft, and even "dined" with them (see page 626). The spot seemed a wilderness, but no sooner was the mysterious box in place than herders, driving sheep to summer ranges, began to concentrate and inquire about it. Two years before, a falcon family occupied the lower ledge under the overhanging rock (see illus- tration, page 612). gave a minimum of 45 birds and nine small mammals (gophers and ground squirrels). The most surprising item was a tasty order of eight burrowing owls. The classified list of birds was as follows : 2 mourning doves, 8 burrowing owls, 3 horned larks, 9 California jays, IS western meadowlarks, 3 Brewer's blackbirds, 2 Cali- fornia shrikes, 1 rock wren, 1 chicken, 1 unidentified. The female of this pair was one of the largest and the male one of the smallest falcons I have ever seen, but both were superb flyers and mighty hunters, whose 626 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE ALMOST READY TO LAUNCH THE "PIANO-BOX" BLIND On two steel cables it was lowered over the cliff, near the edge of which the author's son is standing. Entering from above by rope ladder, the observer placed his camera on a shelf, lashed down the cover, and awaited the return of the old birds (see illustration, page 625). When the big box first appeared at their very door, the falcons circled Suspiciously, but instead of deserting the eggs they finally sailed in to the nest and continued rearing a family. prowess was reflected in their varied list of game. Other families studied in previous years and under different conditions were fed chiefly on ground squirrels. A fellow ob- server found in the Mojave Desert region a nest of five young raised to a healthy maturity on a diet of chuckwalla lizards, with an occasional collared lizard by way of variety. My first attempts to secure movies and stills of parents and young together had been tantalizing and only partly successful. One trip down a cliff for each still shot or movie run is too much of a good thing. Two years later, therefore, a comfortable and roomy box blind, stoutly framed and securely supported by light steel cables from two drill-steel pins, was swung into place at a favorably located nesting site. An old cotton comforter spread in the bottom and on the bench deadened my foot- falls and made a soft seat. Cracks between the floor boards let in a cooling breeze. The eggs, which were hatched after the blind was first lowered into place, but before it was occupied, were laid in an old raven or owl's nest instead of on the bare ledge. The nest itself was within six feet of the cameras, and when the young began to move about the distance was often from two to four feet. To say that I was on intimate terms with the family is putting it mildly. We even dined together, they eating ground squirrel or meadowlark on the outside, while I had a vacuum bottle of coffee, with sandwiches, fruit, and cake inside the blind. At first the whir or click of the cameras put the old birds to hasty flight, but soon they became absolutely calloused to these noises and even to the sound of tearing off the paper tabs of the film packs. It was astounding that one of the wildest of birds could be filmed at such close range that the portrait attachment had to be used and the operator could have reached out to the bird with his hand. ■■, *■■ -.r \ ') i ■/': 'J "■"T'r' •:. 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