The voyageurs were not long in having evidence of the appropriateness of
the Indian appellation; for these people, like other savages, have the
good habit of giving names that express some quality or characteristic
of the thing itself. The bird in question was on the wing, and from its
movements evidently searching for game. It sailed in easy circlings near
the surface, _quartering_ the ground like a pointer dog. It flew so
lightly that its wings were not seen to move, and throughout all its
wheelings and turnings it appeared to be carried onwards or upwards by
the power of mere volition.

Once or twice its course brought it directly over the camp, and Francois
had got hold of his gun, with the intention of bringing it down, but on
each occasion it perceived his motions; and, soaring up like a
paper-kite until out of reach, it passed over the camp, and then sank
down again upon the other side, and continued its "quarterings" as
before. For nearly half-an-hour it went on manoevring in this way, when
all at once it was seen to make a sudden turning in the air as it fixed
its eyes upon some object in the grass.

The next moment it glided diagonally towards the earth, and poising
itself for a moment above the surface, rose again with a small
green-coloured snake struggling in its talons. After ascending to some
height, it directed its flight towards a clump of trees, and was soon
lost to the view of our travellers.

Lucien now pointed out to his companions a characteristic of the hawk
and buzzard tribe, by which these birds can always be distinguished from
the true falcon. That peculiarity lay in the manner of seizing their
prey. The former skim forward upon it sideways--that is, in a horizontal
or diagonal direction, and pick it up in passing; while the true
falcons--as the merlin, the peregrine, the gerfalcon, and the great
eagle-falcons--shoot down upon their prey _perpendicularly_ like an
arrow, or a piece of falling lead.

He pointed out, moreover, how the structure of the different kinds of
preying birds, such as the size and form of the wings and tail, as well
as other parts, were in each kind adapted to its peculiar mode of
pursuing its prey; and then there arose a discussion as to whether this
adaption should be considered a _cause_, or an _effect_. Lucien
succeeded in convincing his companions that the structure was the effect
and not the cause of the habit, for the young naturalist was a firm
believer in the