Animal Life in Field and Garden

by Jean-Henri Fabre

“The kite’s extended wings measure more than a meter and a half from tip to tip, and its flight presents a fine spectacle. When the bird sweeps in wide circles through the upper atmosphere, it is as if it were swimming, gliding without the least apparent exertion. Then all at once it stops in its flight and remains suspended in one position for a quarter of an hour at a stretch, held there by an invisible movement of the wings.

“The kite is of a deep red hue on the back and rust-colored on the breast and stomach, with a whitish head and the large wing-feathers black. Its cry resembles a cat’s mewing. It builds its nest in tall trees or, still oftener, in the hollows of rocks. Its eggs, commonly three in number, are white shading into dingy yellow and speckled with a few irregular brown spots.

“The birds known as harriers have a small semicircular collar of fine thick feathers projecting from each side of the face and reaching from beak to [[147]]ear, much like the ring around the hornless owl’s eyes. In the contour of the breast, in the long legs and wings, and in the still longer tail, they have something of the falcon’s appearance and bearing; while in their large head and in the little collar around the face they are not unlike the nocturnal birds of prey. Harriers frequent marshes and the banks of stagnant bodies of water, where they lie concealed among the rushes in order to seize any small rodents, reptiles, or insects that may come within their reach. The farmer has no complaint to bring against them, as they show proper respect for his little pigeons, chickens, and ducklings. Indeed, they are welcome visitors on account of their strong liking for field-mice. Unfortunately, the hunter accuses them of killing game, especially water-fowl, hares, and rabbits.

“In this connection it is to be noted that the weasel, a small carnivorous quadruped with a thirst for blood, is wont to make its way into warrens in quest of young hares and rabbits, in order to suck their blood, after which the dead bodies are left behind some bush. These murderous operations do not escape the harrier’s vigilance. In its leisurely flights it keeps a sharp eye on the surroundings of all warrens in the woods, for the purpose of carrying off any dead bodies and feasting on the weasel’s leavings. That it may occasionally be at fault and mistake a live rabbit for a dead one, I should not dare deny; but after all I forgive it willingly enough, and in consideration of its war on field-mice I should [[148]]be inclined to bestow upon it the honorable title of farmer’s helper.

“If we may feel some uncertainty about harriers, there is no such doubt concerning buzzards. In them we certainly have very valuable helpers, large eaters of field-mice and meadow-mice, and great destroyers of moles, those tireless burrowers whose numbers must be kept within strict limits. Buzzards have a short, wide beak, curving downward from the base; wings very long, but not pointed, reaching almost to the tip of the tail; strong legs, and the space between the eyes and nostrils bristling with hairs.

“Buzzards are fond of repose and phlegmatic by nature; or it might be more accurate to say that they are endowed with a remarkable capacity for patient and motionless waiting, a gift very necessary for the successful hunting of the field-mouse, which must be watched for by the hour at the mouth of its burrow. For half a day at a time, if need be, the buzzard lies in wait without making the least movement or giving the slightest sign of impatience. One would take it to be asleep. Then, all of a sudden, the bird falls to hacking the soil with its beak and tearing the turf with its powerful claws. A disemboweled mole is brought to light, or perhaps a field-mouse is the prize, and in either event the victim is no sooner caught than swallowed.

“Now do you know what reputation the buzzard has won by this habit of long and motionless waiting so indispensable in the quest of game with the acuteness of hearing characteristic of the mole and of [[149]]rodents? The reputation of stupidity. We say of a person of limited intelligence that he is as stupid as a buzzard. Here again is an instance of that wrong-headedness which makes us think little of so many of our helpers and glorify those that prey upon us. Stupidity is the name we give to the buzzard’s peculiarities, and for no better reason than that the bird spares our poultry-yards and rids us of troublesome rodents; whereas we speak of the eagle, which steals our lambs, and of the falcon, plunderer of chicken-coops, as courageous, noble, and splendid.

“The common buzzard is a large brown bird with a whitish throat, stomach-feathers marked with little lines alternately brown and white, and tail crossed by nine or ten dark stripes. Its beak is whitish at the base and black at the tip, its eyes and legs yellow. This species nests in tall trees, the nest being made of interwoven twigs and lined with wool and hair. It lays but three eggs at most, which are whitish and irregularly sprinkled with dingy yellow spots. It is the common buzzard especially that has won the reputation of stupidity with its leisurely flying and its patience in watching for prey. It usually watches on some mound of earth. Observers who have studied its habits say that sixteen is about the number of mice it commonly eats in one day, which makes nearly six thousand a year.”

“That’s the kind of bird we should like to have [[150]]about our houses if we could only tame it,” remarked Jules.

“There is nothing to prevent our trying it,” his uncle rejoined. “The buzzard’s disposition is good enough. Other observers, who have studied its hunting of field-mice, estimate that it eats nearly four thousand of these in one year. From this number you can form some idea of the multitude of little rodents a whole flock of buzzards would be able to destroy. But we must not give the bird too much praise. I know that it does not hesitate, when occasion offers, to seize and carry off a wounded young hare; and I also know that when the snow is on the ground and the buzzard is pressed by hunger, it will pounce upon any stray chicken that may have got out of the poultry-yard. But what are these few acts of theft when compared with the thousands of rodents of all kinds that it clears away from our fields? Whatever the season of the year, one cannot open a buzzard’s crop without finding common mice, field-mice, and meadow-mice there by the dozen. If I owned a field that was ravaged by these rodents, I should lose no time in planting a few stumps there to serve as perches and watch-towers for buzzards in their patient hunt for their favorite game.