The Young Voyageurs: Boy Hunters in the North

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.

  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 willeat carrion. In this respect the hawks and falcons are alike. Bothtake their prey upon the wing; but herein lies the difference. Thehawks capture it by skimming along horizontally or obliquely, andpicking it up as they pass; whereas the true falcons `pounce' down uponit from above, 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.They are not partridges though, but grouse--that species known as`willow-grouse' (_Tetrao saliceti_)."

  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.These last were pitch-black.

  "Ho!" exclaimed Lucien, in some surprise, "you have two kinds here!Were they 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 blackfeathers in the tail--and the bills of both are black; but if youobserve closely, this kind--the willow-grouse--has the bill muchstronger and less flattened. Besides, it is a larger bird than theother, which is the `rock-grouse' (_Tetrao rupestris_). Both aresometimes, though erroneously, called `ptarmigan;' but they are not thetrue ptarmigan (_Tetrao mutus_)--such as exist in North Europe--thoughthese last are also to be met with in the Northern parts of America.The ptarmigan are somewhat larger than either of these kinds, but inother respects differ but little from them.

  "The habits of the `rock' and `willow' grouse are very similar. Theyare both birds of the snowy regions, and are found as far north as hasbeen explored. The willow-grouse in winter keep more among the trees,and are oftener met with in wooded countries; whereas the others likebest to live in the open ground, and, from your statement, it appearsyou found each 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 hundredyards or so, and then went plunge under the snow--every one of themmaking a hole for itself just like where one had poked their foot in! Iguess, boys, this looked funny enough. I thought I would be sure to geta shot at some of these grouse as they came out again; so I walkedstraight up to the holes they had made, and stood waiting. I still sawthe hawk hovering in the air, about an hundred 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! Atthe same instant, the crust broke in several places, and up came thegrouse one after another, and whirred off out of sight, without givingme any sort of a chance. The hawk, however, had not come up yet; and Iran forward, 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.