208 



KEY AND BESCBIPTION 



common name indicates, is a bird of the plains west of the 



Mississippi. 



Length, 16-20 ; wing, 12-14' ; tail, Ci-9; tarsus, 2 ; culmen, 1. "West- 

 ern United States from the eastern border of the Plains to the Pacific ; 



breeding throughout. Casual east to 

 Illinois. 



27. Duck Hawk (356. Fdlco jyere- 

 gr)Hus dnatam). — A dark, bluish- 

 slate-colored hawk, with the under 

 parts cream-buff, much spotted 

 with black, except on the breast; 

 tail indistinctly barred with black- 

 ish and tipped with a narrow, white 

 band. The young has the blackish 

 upper parts margined with orange- 

 buffy, and the under side of the 

 tail barred Avith the same. This 

 is a beautiful, swift-flying, daring 

 bird generally found near the 

 water, as it feeds mainly on ducks 

 and other water birds. No bird 



can fly swiftly enough to escape its talons. (Peregrine Falcon ; 



Great-footed Hawk.) 



Length, 14-20; wing, lU-15; tail, 0-fl ; tarsus, 2; culmen, 1. North 

 America, and south to central South America ; breeding locally over 

 most of its United States 

 range. 



28. Pigeon Hawk 

 (357. Fdlco coldinbd- 

 rius). — A small, 

 slate-blue hawk, with 

 all the under parts 

 light creamy or 

 brownish, much 

 streaked with dark ; 

 tail with three or four broad, lighter-colored bars, and the 



Prairie Falcon 



Dnck Hawk 



