RAPTORES: FALCONIDjE. 125 



The Black-headed Falcon, F. nigriccps, Cass., of West- 

 ern North and South America, is closely related to the 

 two preceding, but is smaller. 



The Pigeon Hawk, F. columbarius, Linn., of the warm 

 and temperate parts of America, is twelve to fourteen 

 inches long, and the wing eight to nine inches ; the 

 male ten to eleven inches, and the wing seven and a 

 half to eight inches. In the adult the upper parts are 

 bluish-slate, every feather with a longitudinal black line ; 

 forehead and throat white; and the other under parts 

 pale yellowish or reddish white, every feather with a lon- 

 gitudinal line of brownish black. The bill is blue, cere 

 and legs yellow, quills black, tipped with ashy white, tail 

 light bluish-ashy tipped with white, and with a broad sub- 

 terminal black band, and several other narrower trans- 

 verse bands of the same color. This spirited little falcon 

 preys upon pigeons, teal, and most of the smaller birds. 

 In the latter part of summer and early autumn it is 

 a constant attendant upon the flocks of birds that are 

 assembling for, or making, their southward migrations, 

 and fattens upon those it chooses to select. It generally 

 flies low, skimming over fields, and along the hedges 

 and skirts of woodlands, searching for its favorite prey. 



The Orange-breasted Hawk, F. aurantius, Gm., of Texas 

 and South America, is somewhat smaller than the pigeon 

 hawk. 



F. femoralis, Temm., of New Mexico and South Amer- 

 ica, is somewhat larger than the pigeon hawk. 



The Prairie Falcon, F. polyagrns, Cass., of Western 

 North America, is eighteen to twenty inches long, and 

 the wing thirteen to fourteen inches ; the plumage above 

 brown ; a narrow frontal band, a line over the eye, and 

 under parts, white ; the breast and abdomen with longi- 

 tudinal stripes and spots of brown, which color also forms 

 a large spot on the flank. 



