“I have seen many dozens of game-birds struck down by trained peregrines within 50 yards of me, and I can definitely state that the hawk invariably aims a blow with the talons at his quarry....
“So true is a peregrine’s aim that he generally gets home with both his hind talons somewhere near the middle of the quarry’s back, but often he hits a wing and breaks it, and occasionally he breaks the neck in the same way. I have examined hundreds of birds (partridges) killed by hawks, and I have always found the mark of two hind talons or one of them. The decapitation is generally performed within a few seconds of the hawk’s alighting on the dazed or crippled victim. It is performed by one powerful wrench of the beak. No peregrine will eat or even pluck a living bird.... In my experience it is a rare thing for a peregrine to strike a bird dead in the air. It does occasionally happen that the blow falls on the head or neck, but what generally happens is that the bird is thrown violently to the ground with a wing broken or the back dislocated. The concussion with the ground dazes it, and the hawk quickly drops down upon it and kills it with its beak.
“The merlin often kills comparatively large birds (e.g. the thrush, fieldfare, golden plover, etc.) by strangling them, as its beak is not strong enough to break their necks. It kills larks, etc., in the same way as the peregrine kills his quarry, that is, by sudden dislocation of the neck.
“The sparrow-hawk kills its prey by gripping it with its feet and driving the claws into its body; this is a slow death sometimes, and the sparrow-hawk has none of the true falcon’s scruples about plucking (and even, I fear, beginning to devour) a living bird.
“I do not like the sparrow-hawk for this reason, though, of course, the falconer can generally prevent cruelty by killing the quarry himself.”
Captain G. S. Blaine, another falconer of great experience, also has no doubt on the matter. In a letter to me on this question he writes:
“A peregrine strikes with its talons only. Of this I am certain, having seen the blow given to countless quarries at close quarters. How the other idea (that of striking with the wing) could possibly have originated I do not know. It is quite obviously impracticable.... If a peregrine administered the terrific blow which she delivers when striking a quarry with her wing, breast, or beak, she would be knocked out at once, and permanently injured. A peregrine can easily, after recovering from her stoop, turn over again and catch the quarry in the air. I have seen this often done, when the bird had been struck high up in the air. If near the ground, it would fall before the hawk could get hold of it. Many also often catch and hold a quarry without knocking it down. This is the way most successful game hawks catch grouse or partridges. When struck, the blow is delivered on any part of the body—it may be the head and it may be the back or the wing which may be broken.”
DEATH OF THE MALLARD.