CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE JERFALCON AND THE WHITE GROUSE.
"Mine," began Francois, "was a bird adventure, as you all see--thoughwhat kind of birds I've shot, _I_ can't tell. One of them's a hawk, I'msure; but it's a _white_ hawk, and that I never saw before. The rest, Isuppose, are _white_ partridges. Everything appears to be white here.What are they, Luce?"
"You are right about this first," answered Lucien, taking up one of thebirds which Francois had brought back with him, and which was white allbut a few spots of clove-brown upon its back. "This is a hawk, as youmay tell, by its appearance, or rather I should say a 'falcon,' for youmust know there is a difference."
"What difference?" demanded Francois, with some eagerness of manner.
"Why the principal difference is the formation of their beaks or bills.The bills of the true falcons are stronger, and have a notch in thelower mandible answering to a tooth in the upper one. Their nostrils,too, are differently formed. But another point of distinction is foundin their habits. Both feed on warm-blooded animals, and neither will eatcarrion. In this respect the hawks and falcons are alike. Both taketheir prey upon the wing; but herein lies the difference. The hawkscapture it by skimming along horizontally or obliquely, and picking itup as they pass; whereas the true falcons 'pounce' down upon it fromabove, and in a line nearly vertical."
"Then this must be a true falcon," interrupted Francois, "for I saw thegentleman do that very thing; and beautifully he did it, too."
"It is a falcon," continued Lucien; "and of the many species of hawkswhich inhabit North America--over twenty in all--it is one of theboldest and handsomest. I don't wonder you never saw it before; for itis truly a bird of the Northern regions, and does not come so far southas the territory of the United States, much less into Louisiana. It isfound in North Europe, Greenland, and Iceland, and has been seen as farnorth on both continents as human beings have travelled. It is known bythe name of 'jerfalcon,' or 'gyrfalcon,' but its zoological name is_Falco Islandicus_."
"The Indians here," interposed Norman, "call it by a name that means'winter bird,' or 'winterer'--I suppose, because it is one of the fewthat stay in these parts all the year round, and is therefore oftennoticed by them in winter time. The traders sometimes call it the'speckled partridge-hawk,' for there are some of them more spotted thanthis one is."
"True," said Lucien; "the young ones are nearly of a brown colour, andthey first become spotted or mottled after a year or two. They areseveral years old before they get the white plumage, and very fewindividuals are seen of a pure white all over, though there are somewithout a spot."
"Yes," continued the naturalist, "it is the jerfalcon; and those otherbirds which you call 'white partridges,' are the very creatures uponwhich it preys. So you have killed both the tyrant and his victims. Theyare not partridges though, but grouse--that species known as 'willowgrouse.'"
And as Lucien said this, he began to handle the birds, which were of abeautiful white all over, with the exception of the tail feathers. Theselast were pitch-black.
"Ho!" exclaimed Lucien, in some surprise, "you have two kinds here! Werethey all together when you shot them?"
"No," answered Francois; "one I shot along with the hawk out in the openground. All the others I killed upon a tree in a piece of woods that Ifell in with. There's no difference between them that I can see."
"But I can," said Lucien, "although I acknowledge they all look verymuch alike. Both are feathered to the toes--both have the black feathersin the tail--and the bills of both are black; but if you observeclosely, this kind--the willow-grouse--has the bill much stronger andless flattened. Besides, it is a larger bird than the other, which is'the rock-grouse.' Both are sometimes, though erroneously, called'ptarmigan;' but they are not the true ptarmigan--such as exist in NorthEurope--though these last are also to be met with in the Northern partsof America. The ptarmigan are somewhat larger than either of thesekinds, but in other respects differ but little from them.
"The habits of the 'rock' and 'willow' grouse are very similar. They areboth birds of the snowy region, and are found as far north as has beenexplored. The willow-grouse in winter keep more among the trees, and areoftener met with in wooded countries; whereas the others like best tolive in the open ground, and, from your statement, it appears you foundeach kind in its favourite haunt."
"Just so," said Francois. "After leaving here, I kept down the valley,and was just crossing an open piece of high ground, when I espied thewhite hawk, or falcon as you call it, hovering in the air as I'd oftenseen hawks do. Well, I stopped and hid behind a rock, thinking I mighthave a chance to put a few drops into him. All at once he appeared tostand still in the air, and, then closing his wings, shot down like anarrow. Just then I heard a loud '_whur-r-r_,' and up started a wholecovey of white partridges--grouse, I should say--the same as this youcall the 'rock-grouse.' I saw that the hawk had missed the whole ofthem, and I marked them as they flew off.
"They pitched about a hundred yards or so, and then went plunge underthe snow--every one of them making a hole for itself just like where onehad poked their foot in! I guess, boys, this looked funny enough. Ithought I would be sure to get a shot at some of these grouse as theycame out again; so I walked straight up to the holes they had made, andstood waiting. I still saw the hawk hovering in the air, about anhundred yards ahead of me.
"I was considering whether I ought to go farther on, and tramp the birdsout of the snow; for I believed, of course, they were still under theplace where the holes were. All at once I noticed a movement on thecrust of the snow right under where the hawk was flying, and then thatindividual shot down to the spot, and disappeared under the snow! At thesame instant, the crust broke in several places, and up came the grouseone after another, and whirred off out of sight, without giving me anysort of a chance. The hawk, however, had not come up yet; and I ranforward, determined to take him as soon as he should make hisappearance. When I had got within shooting distance, up he fluttered tothe surface, and--what do you think?--he had one of the grousestruggling in his claws! I let him have the right barrel, and both heand grousy were knocked dead as a couple of door-nails!
"I thought I might fall in with the others again; and kept on in thedirection they had taken, which brought me at last to a piece ofwoodland consisting of birches and willow-trees. As I was walking alongthe edge of this, I noticed one of the willows, at some distance off,covered with great white things, that at first I took for flakes ofsnow; but then I thought it curious that none of the other trees had thesame upon them. As I came a little nearer, I noticed one of the thingsmoving, and then I saw they were birds, and very like the same I hadjust seen, and was then in search of. So I crept in among the trees;and, after some dodging, got within beautiful shooting distance, andgave them both barrels. There, you see the result!"
Here Francois triumphantly pointed to the pile of birds, which in all,with the jerfalcon, counted four brace and a half.
One was the rock-grouse, which the falcon had itself killed, and theothers were willow-grouse, as Lucien had stated. Francois now remainedsilent, while Basil related his day's adventure.