Part 36

Marsh Harrier Hobby

Merlin Sparrow Hawk ]

SUB-FAMILY AQUILINÆ

THE GOLDEN EAGLE AQUILA CHRYSAËTOS

Tail longer than the wings, rounded; plumage of the head, back of the neck and legs, lustrous reddish brown, of the rest of the body dark brown; primaries nearly black; secondaries brownish black; tail dark grey, barred and tipped with brownish black; beak bluish at the base, black at the extremity; iris brown; cere and feet yellow; claws bluish black. Length of the male three feet, that of the female more; breadth eight feet. Eggs dirty white, mottled with pale reddish brown.

The fable of the Eagle soaring to a great height in order to enjoy a gaze at the sun in his unclouded brilliancy, is founded probably on a belief of the ancients, thus stated by the naturalist Pliny:--'Before its young are as yet fledged, the Eagle compels them to gaze at the rays of the sun, and if it observes one to wink or show a watery eye casts it from the nest as a degenerate offspring; if, on the contrary, it preserves a steady gaze, it is saved from this hard fate, and brought up.'

'The Golden Eagle', says Macgillivray, 'seems to prefer live prey to carrion, and easily secures Grouse, in searching for which it flies low on the moors, sailing and wheeling at intervals. Hares, roes, and even red deer, it also attacks, but it does not haunt the shores for fish so much as the Sea Eagle does. There seems very little probability that Eagles have the sense of smell very acute, but that their vision is so is evident. I am not, however, inclined to think that they perceive objects from the vast height to which they sometimes soar, because I never saw one descend from such an elevation in a manner indicating that it had observed a carcase or other eatable object; whereas, on the other hand, I have very frequently seen them flying along the sides of the hills, at a small height, obviously in search of food, in a manner somewhat resembling that of the Sparrow-hawk, but with much less rapidity.'

The Golden Eagle breeds only in the Highlands, but it is not an unfrequent visitor to the Lowlands of Scotland in the cold season. Those birds which have been recorded as visiting England were generally not this species but the White-tailed or Sea Eagle in immature plumage. It prefers mountains or extensive forests, building its eyrie either on rocks or lofty trees. In France, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland, it is frequently observed. Its note, called in the Highlands 'a bark', is sharp and loud, resembling at a distance, as, on the only occasion I ever heard it, it seemed to me, the croak of a Raven. It lays two or sometimes three eggs, and feeds its young, which are very voracious, on birds and the smaller quadrupeds.

THE WHITE-TAILED (SEA) EAGLE HALIAËTUS ALBICILLA

Tail not longer than the wings; upper plumage brown, that of the head and neck lightest, lower, chocolate brown; tail white; beak, cere, and feet yellowish white; claws black. In young birds the tail is dark brown, and the beak and cere are of a darker hue. Length of the male, two feet four inches; of the female, two feet ten inches. Eggs dirty white with a few pale red marks.

The White-tailed Eagle, known also by the name of the Sea Eagle, is about equal in size to the Golden Eagle, but differs considerably in character and habits; for while the latter has been known to pounce on a pack of Grouse and carry off two or three from before the very eyes of the astonished sportsman and his dogs, or to appropriate for his own special picking a hunted hare when about to become the prey of the hounds, the White-tailed Eagle has been observed to fly terror-struck from a pair of Skua Gulls, making no return for their heavy buffets but a series of dastardly shrieks. The ordinary food, too, of the nobler bird is living animals, though, to tell the truth, he is always ready to save himself the trouble of a chase, if he can meet with the carcase of a sheep or lamb; but the White-tailed Eagle feeds principally on fish, water-fowl, the smaller quadrupeds, and offal, whether of quadrupeds, birds, or fish. On such fare, when pressed by hunger, he feeds so greedily that he gorges himself till, unable to rise, he becomes the easy prey of the shepherd's boy armed but with a stick or stone. The Eagle is sometimes seen on the southern sea-board of England in autumn and winter when the younger birds that have been reared in the north of Europe are migrating south; but its eyries are now only on the west and north coasts, and especially the Shetland Islands. It inhabits Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, and the north of England, where it frequents the vicinity of the sea and large lakes. In winter it appears to leave the high latitudes and come farther south, not perhaps so much on account of cold as because its ordinary prey, being driven to seek a genial climate, it is compelled to accompany its food. Consequently it is more abundant in Scotland during winter than summer, and when seen late in autumn is generally observed to be flying south, in early spring northwards. It builds its nest either in forests, choosing the summit of the loftiest trees, or among inaccessible cliffs overhanging the sea. The materials are sticks, heath, tufts of grass, dry sea-weed, and it lays two eggs. The young are very voracious, and are fed by the parent birds for some time after they have left the nest, but when able to provide for themselves are driven from the neighbourhood to seek food and a home elsewhere.

THE OSPREY PANDÍON HALIAËTUS

Wings longer than the tail; feathers of the head and neck white, with dark centres; on each side of the neck a streak of blackish brown, extending downwards; upper plumage generally deep brown; under white, tinged here and there with yellow, and on the breast marked with arrow-shaped spots; tail-feathers barred with dusky bands; cere and beak dark grey; iris yellow. Length two feet; breadth five feet. Eggs reddish white, blotched and spotted with dark reddish brown.

'Endowed with intense keenness of sight, it hovers high in the air, and having descried a fish in the sea, it darts down with great rapidity, dashes aside the water with its body, and seizes its prey in an instant.' So says the ancient naturalist Pliny, describing a bird which he calls Haliaëtus, or Sea Eagle. Eighteen centuries later, Montagu thus described a bird, which, when he first observed it, was hawking for fish on the river Avon, near Aveton Gifford, in Devonshire: 'At last', he says, 'its attention was arrested, and like the Kestrel in search of mice, it became stationary, as if examining what had attracted its attention. After a pause of some time, it descended to within about fifty yards of the surface of the water, and there continued hovering for another short interval, and then precipitated itself into the water with such great celerity as to be nearly immersed. In three or four minutes the bird rose without any apparent difficulty, and carried off a trout of moderate size, and instead of alighting to regale upon its prey, soared to a prodigious height, and did not descend within our view.' There can be no reasonable doubt that the bird thus described at such distant intervals of time is the same, and that the Sea Eagle of the ancients is the Osprey of the moderns. Wilson thus eloquently describes its habits under the name of the 'Fish Hawk': "Elevated on the high dead limb of some gigantic tree, that commands a wide view of the neighbouring shore and ocean, the great White-headed Eagle seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes that pursue their busy vocations below. High over all these hovers one whose actions instantly arrest all his attention. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension in air, he knows him to be the Fish Hawk settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and balancing himself with half-open wings on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around. At this moment the eager looks of the Eagle are all ardour; and, levelling his neck for flight, he sees the Fish Hawk once more emerge struggling with his prey, and mounting in the air with screams of exultation. These are the signals for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly gives chase, soon gains on the Fish Hawk: each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in the rencontres the most elegant and sublime aërial evolutions. The unincumbered Eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest execration, the latter drops his fish; the Eagle, poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods."

The Osprey has been observed on various parts of the coast of Great Britain and Ireland, especially in autumn, and in the neighbourhood of the Scottish Lakes, not merely as a stray visitor, but making itself entirely at home. It is known in Sussex and Hampshire, as the Mullet Hawk, because of its liking for that fish. It may be considered as a citizen of the world, for it has been found in various parts of Europe, the Cape of Good Hope, India, and New Holland. In America, we have already seen, it is abundant. It builds its nest of sticks on some rock or ruin, generally near the water, and lays two or three eggs. It has not been known to breed in Ireland.

SUB-FAMILY ACCIPITRINÆ

THE SPARROW-HAWK ACCÍPITER NISUS

Upper plumage dark bluish grey, with a white spot on the nape of the neck; lower reddish white, transversely barred with deep brown; tail grey, barred with brownish black; beak blue, lightest at the base; cere, irides, and feet yellow; claws black. Female--upper parts brown passing into blackish grey; lower, greyish white barred with dark grey. Length, male twelve inches, female fifteen inches; breadth, male twenty-four inches, female twenty-eight inches. Eggs bluish white, blotched and spotted with deep rusty brown.

Since the introduction of firearms, the Goshawk and Sparrow-hawk have lost much of their reputation, every effort being now made to exterminate them, for carrying on, on their own account, the same practises which in bygone days they were enlisted to pursue on behalf of others. For hawking, it must be remembered, was not exclusively a pastime followed by the high and noble for amusement's sake, but was, in one of its branches, at least, a very convenient method of supplying the table with game; and that, too, at a period when there were not the same appliances, in the shape of turnips, oil-cake, etc., for fattening cattle and producing beef and mutton in unlimited quantities, that there are now. The produce of the fish-ponds, woods, and fields was then a matter of some moment, and much depended on the training of the Hawks and diligence of the falconer whether the daily board should be plentifully or scantily furnished. In recent times, even, some idea of the intrinsic value of a good Hawk may be gathered from the fact that, in Lombardy, it was thought nothing extraordinary for a single Sparrow-hawk to take for his master from seventy to eighty Quails in a single day. In the Danubian Provinces and in Hungary, the practise of hunting Quails with Sparrow-hawks is still in vogue; but with us, the agile bird is left to pursue his prey on his own account. And right well does he exercise his calling. Unlike the Kestrel, which soars high in air and mostly preys on animals which when once seen have no power of escape, the Sparrow-hawk is marked by its dashing, onward flight. Skimming rapidly across the open fields, by no means refusing to swoop on any bird or quadruped worthy of its notice, but not preferring this kind of hunting-ground, it wings its easy way to the nearest hedge, darts along by the side, turns sharply to the right or left through an opening caused by a gate or gap, and woe to any little bird which it may encounter, either perched on a twig or resting on the ground. Unerring in aim, and secure of its holdfast, it allows its victims no chance of escape, one miserable scream, and their fate is sealed. And even if the prey detects its coming enemy, and seeks safety in flight, its only hope is to slip into the thick bushes and trust to concealment: resort to the open field is all but certain death. Nor is it fastidious in its choice of food--leverets, young rabbits, mice, partridges, thrushes, blackbirds, sparrows, larks, pipits, and many others are equal favourites. It resorts very frequently to the homestead and farmyard, not so much in quest of chickens, which, by the way, it does not despise, as for the sake of the small birds which abound in such places. There it is a bold robber, little heeding the presence of men, suddenly dashing from behind some barn or corn-rick, and rapidly disappearing with its luckless prey struggling in its talons, pursued, perhaps, by the vociferous twitter of the outraged flock, but not dispirited against another onslaught. This coursing for its prey, though the usual, is not the only method of furnishing his larder pursued by the Sparrow-hawk. He has been known to station himself on the branch of a tree in the neighbourhood of some favourite resort of Sparrows, concealed himself, but commanding a fair view of the flock below. With an intent as deadly as that of the fowler when he points his gun, he puts on the attitude of flight before he quits his perch, then selecting his victim, and pouncing on it all but simultaneously, he retires to devour his meal and to return to his post as soon as the hubbub he has excited has subsided somewhat. At times he pays dear for his temerity. Pouncing on a bird which the sportsman has put up and missed, he receives the contents of the second barrel; making a swoop on the bird-catcher's call-bird, he becomes entangled in the meshes; or dashing through a glazed window at a caged Canary bird, he finds his retreat cut off.

As is the case with most predaceous birds, the female is larger and bolder than the male, and will attack birds superior to herself in size. Though a fierce enemy, she is an affectionate mother, and will defend her young at the risk of her life. She builds her nest, or appropriates the deserted nest of a Crow, in trees, or if they be wanting, in a cliff, and lays four or five eggs. The young are very voracious, and are fed principally on small birds, the number of which consumed may be inferred from the fact that no less than sixteen Larks, Sparrows, and other small birds, were on one occasion found in a nest, the female parent belonging to which had been shot while conveying to them a young bird just brought to the neighbourhood of the nest by the male; the latter, it was conjectured, having brought them all, and deposited them in the nest in the interval of nine hours which had elapsed between their discovery and the death of his partner.

The Sparrow-hawk is found in most wooded districts of Great Britain and Ireland, and the greater part of the Eastern Continent.

SUB-FAMILY MILVINÆ

THE RED KITE MILVUS ICTINUS

Upper parts reddish brown; the feathers with pale edges; those of the head and neck long and tapering to a point, greyish white, streaked longitudinally with brown; lower parts rust coloured, with longitudinal brown streaks; tail reddish orange, barred indistinctly with brown; beak horn coloured; cere, irides, and feet yellow; claws black. Female--upper plumage of a deeper brown; the feathers pale at the extremity; head and neck white. Length, twenty-five inches; breadth, five feet six inches. Eggs dirty white, spotted at the larger end with red-brown.

'The Kite', Pliny informs us, 'seems, by the movement of its tail, to have taught mankind the art of steering--nature pointing out in the air what is necessary in the sea'. The movement of the bird through the air indeed resembles sailing more than flying. 'One cannot' says Buffon, 'but admire the manner in which the flight of the Kite is performed; his long and narrow wings seem motionless; it is his tail that seems to direct all his evolutions, and he moves it continuously; he rises without effort, comes down as if he were sliding along an inclined plane; he seems rather to swim than to fly; he darts forward, slackens his speed, stops, and remains suspended or fixed in the same place for whole hours without exhibiting the smallest motion of his wings.' The Kite generally moves along at a moderate height, but sometimes, like the Eagle, rises to the more elevated regions of the air, where it may always be distinguished by its long wings and forked tail.

In France, it is known by the name 'Milan Royal', the latter title being given to it not on account of any fancied regal qualities, but because in ancient times it was subservient to the pleasures of princes. In those times, hawking at the Kite and Heron was the only kind of sport dignified with the title of 'Chase Royal', and no one--not even a nobleman--could attack the Kite and Heron without infringing the privileges of the king.

Though larger than the noble Falcons, it is far inferior to them in daring and muscular strength; cowardly in attacking the strong, pitiless to the weak. It rarely assails a bird on the wing, but takes its prey on the ground, where nothing inferior to itself in courage seems to come amiss to it. Moles, rats, mice, reptiles, and partridges, are its common food; it carries off also goslings, ducklings, and chickens, though it retires ignominiously before an angry hen. When pressed by hunger, it does not refuse the offal of animals, or dead fish; but being an expert fisherman, it does not confine itself to dead food of this kind, but pounces on such fish as it discerns floating near the surface of the water--carries them off in its talons, and devours them on shore.

The Kite is more abundant in the northern than the southern countries of Europe, to which latter, however, numerous individuals migrate in autumn. It is of very rare occurrence in the southern counties of England, where no doubt it has gained discredit for many of the evil deeds of the Sparrow-hawk. It builds its nest of sticks, lined with straw and moss, in lofty trees, and lays three or four eggs. A few still breed in some districts in Scotland, also in the wilder parts of Wales, but their eggs are, unfortunately, soon taken.