»In which we see Nature in action

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Central Park's famous red-tailed hawk, Pale Male, was dining about about the town. I pulled over as I was finishing a circuit of the Park, curious about why the throng of photographers was all agog. New Yorkers might identify with this raptor because he, too, had housing struggles.

The bird flew a few feet from my face after he swooped to catch a mouse; he alighted on a nearby bough and devoured it, and then neatly cleaned his beak and talons against the bark.

correction: A correspondent observed: "Just for the record, that's not Pale Male but the juvenile from the 888 7th Avenue nest." More photographs and narrative at his web site.