The PEREGRINE FALCON.--Of this species, so celebrated, in former times,
for being used in the noble sport of falconry, Mr. Selby gives us an
interesting anecdote. "In exercising my dogs upon the moors, previous
to the shooting season," says he, "I observed a large bird, of the hawk
genus, hovering at a distance, which, upon approaching it, I knew to be
a peregrine falcon. Its attention was now drawn towards the dogs, and
it accompanied them whilst they beat the surrounding ground. Upon their
having found and sprung a brood of grouse, the falcon immediately gave
chase, and struck a young bird before they had proceeded far upon the
wing. My shouts and rapid advance prevented it from securing its prey.
The issue of this attempt, however, did not deter the falcon from
watching our subsequent movements, and, another opportunity soon
offering, it again gave chase, and struck down two birds, by two
rapidly repeated blows, one of which it secured, and bore off in
triumph."
_Fatal Conflict._--Le Vaillant gives an account of an engagement
between a falcon and a snake. "When this bird attacks a serpent, it
always carries the point of one of its wings forward, in order to parry
the venomous bites. Sometimes it seizes its prey and throws it high in
the air, thus wearying it out. In the present instance, the battle was
obstinate, and conducted with equal address on both sides. The serpent
at length endeavored to regain his hole; while the bird, guessing his
design, threw herself before him. On whatever side the reptile
endeavored to escape, the enemy still appeared before him. Rendered
desperate, he resolved on a last effort. He erected himself boldly, to
intimidate the bird, and, hissing dreadfully, displayed his menacing
throat, inflamed eyes, and head swollen with rage and venom. The
falcon, for one moment, seemed intimidated, but soon returned to the
charge, and, covering her body with one of her wings as a buckler, she
struck her enemy with the bony protuberance of the other. The serpent
at last staggered and fell. The conqueror then fell upon him to
despatch him, and with one stroke of her beak laid open his skull."
The KESTREL.--Selby gives us the following curious account of this
small European species of falcon. "I had," says he, "the pleasure, this
summer, of seeing the kestrel engaged in an occupation entirely new to
me--hawking after cockchaffers late in the evening. I watched him
through a glass, and saw him dart through a swarm of the insects, seize
one in each claw, and eat them whilst flying. He returned to the charge
again and again."
An extraordinary spectacle was exhibited, in 1828, in the garden of Mr.
May, of Uxbridge, in the instance of a tame male hawk sitting on three
hen's eggs. The same bird hatched three chickens the year before; but
being irritated by some person, it destroyed them. It also hatched one
chicken, in the year above mentioned, which was placed with another
brood.
The SPARROW HAWK.--A remarkable instance of the boldness of this bird
was witnessed at Market Deeping, England, one Sunday. Just as the
congregation were returning from divine service in the afternoon, a
hawk of this species made a stoop at a swallow which had alighted in
the centre of the church; and, notwithstanding the surrounding
spectators, and the incessant twitterings of numbers of the victim's
friends, the feathered tyrant succeeded in bearing his prey
triumphantly into the air.
The BUZZARD.--Of this common species of hawk, Buffon tells us the
following story: "A buzzard that had been domesticated in France
exhibited much attachment to his master, attending him at the
dinner-table, and caressing him with his head and bill. He managed to
conquer all the cats and dogs in the house, seizing their food from
them even when there were several together; if attacked, he would take
wing, with a tone of exultation. He had a singular antipathy to red
caps, which he dexterously snatched off the heads of the working men
without being perceived. He likewise purloined wigs in the same manner;
and, after carrying this strange booty off to the tallest tree, he left
them there without injury. Although he sometimes attacked the
neighboring poultry, he lived on amicable terms with those of his
master, bathing even among the chickens and ducklings without doing
them any injury."