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Show 194 Four young birds taken from the same nest differ remarkably in size and general development, the smallest being apparently just hatched, while the largest is nearly one- third grown, with well- developed feathers in the wiugs and tail. The other specimens were intermediate. Ths collector, remarking upon this disparity, believes that they were hatched successively, the female having commenced incubation as soon as the first egg was laid. This is after the mauner of the American Cuckoos { Coccyzm); but a similar case among the raptorial birds is so exceptional that the present instance is very remarkable. The local name of this bird is given by the collector as " Calalie", by which is probably meant Queleliy a name by which several vultures, besides hawks of the group to which the present species belongs, are known in portions of Mexico and California. It is stated to be the most conspicuous, and in one sense most notable, bird of the island, from its abundance, its size, and the damage it does to the flocks of goats. A good idea of its daring and its ferocity may be gathered from the collectors memoranda:- Collector's notes. 44 The' Calalie' is abundant on every part of the island; and no bird could be a more persistent or more cruel euemy of the poultry and domestic animals. It is continually on the watch, and in spite of every precaution often snatches its prey from the very doors of the houses. The destruction of the wild goats is not so great, as these animals are better able to protect themselves than the tame ones. No sooner is one kid born- while the mother is in labor with the second- than the birds pounce upon it; and should the old one be able to interfere, she is also assaulted. No kid is safe from their attacks. Should a number be together, the birds unite their forces, and, with great noise and flapping of their wings, generally manage to separate the weakest one and dispatch it. They sometimes fasten upon the tongue when the poor creature opens its mouth to bleat, and have been known to tear it out, leaving the animal to perish, if not otherwise destroyed. Sometimes the amis is the point of first attack. The birds are cruel in the extreme, and the torture sometimes iuflicted upon the defenseless animals is painful to witness. They occasionally, when pressed by hunger, attack full-grown goats; numbers harass it together from all sides at once, and soon put it to death. A'burro7 ( jackass) which had accidentally become wedged among some rocks, was once furiously attacked and lost its eyes before assistance reached it. Even when food is plenty, they often attack living animals instead of contenting themselves with the carcasses of those already dead, seeming to delight in killing. Should one of their own number be disabled or wounded, it is instantly dispatched by the rest. Hundreds of the birds'have been destroyed by the inhabitants, both with poison and fire- arms, without noticeable diminution of their numbers. They are said to lay three eggs, speckled like a gulps. When surprised or wounded, they emit a loud, harsh scream, something like that of the Bald Eagle. In fighting among themselves, they make a curious gabbling noise; and under any special excitement the same sounds are given forth, with an odd motion of the head, the neck being first stretched oat to its full length and then bent backward till the head almost rests upon the back. The same odd motions are made and similar noises emitted when the birds are about to make an attack upon a kid. " Besides the principal sources of food- supply already indicated, the birds have other means of subsistence. They eat small birds*, mice, |