FAM. XXIX. HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC. 



209 



neck usually with a rusty collar. The primaries are barred 

 with white. The young has the upper parts blackish and the 

 barring of the primaries reddish- 

 yellow. The pigeon hawk has a 

 resemblance to the wild pigeon both 

 w^ien perching and when in flight. It 

 is to be found in the open country, 

 near the edge of woods, especially 

 where there are large bodies of 

 water. Its food consists mainly of 

 small birds and insects. (American 

 Merlin.) 



Length, 10-13 ; wing, 7^-8.V ; tail, 5] ; 

 tarsus, 1^ ; culmen, \ or more. Nortli 

 America; breeding north of the United 

 States, and wintering tlirough most of 

 the states and into northern Soutli 

 America. 



29. Richardson's Merlin (358. 

 Fdlco rkhard.sdnii). — A western, Pigeon Hawk 

 very small, bluish - gray - backed 



haAvk, with the lower parts including the front of the head 

 whitish, much streaked with brown to black, especially on the 

 breast and sides. The chin and throat are about the only por- 

 tions Avithout any shaft streaks on the feathers; even the 

 brown back is so marked with black. Tail with five blackish, 

 five grayish, and one terminal white baud. The female has the 

 back more earthy-broAAoi in color, and the outer webs of the 

 quills marked with butfy spots (the male has these spots light- 

 grayish.) (Richardson's Pigeon Hawk.) 



Length, 10-13t ; wing, 7i-9J ; tail, 4|-6L ; tarsus, 11; culmen, | or 

 more. North America from the Mississippi to the Pacific, north into the 

 British Possessions, and south to Texas and probably Mexico. 



30. Aplomado Falcon (359. Fdlco fusco-coerulescens). — A 

 Texas, medium-sized, heavy-billed, lead-colored falcon, with 

 the chin, throat, and breast unspotted white ; sides and a 



apgar's birds. — 14 



