FALCOXID^E — THE FALCONS. 141 



preys upon the Wild Pigeon, and upon smaller birds. In one instance 

 Audubon has known one to follow a tame Pigeon to its house, enter- 

 ing it at one hole and instantly Hying out at tlie other. The same writer 

 states that he has seen this bird feeding on dead fish that had floated to 

 the banks of the Mississippi. Occasionally it alights on the dead brancli 

 of a tree in the neighborluMjd of marshy ground, and watches, apparently 

 surveying, piece by piece, every portion of the territory. As soon as it 

 perceives a suitable victim, it darts upon it like an arrow. While feeding, 

 it is said to be very cleanly, tearing the flesh, after removing the feathers, 

 into small pieces, and swallowing them one by one. 



The European species, as is well known, was once largely trained for the 

 chase, and even to this day is occasionally used for this purpose ; its docility 

 in confinement, and its wonderful powers of flight, rendering it an efficient 

 assistant to the huntsman. We have no reason to doubt that our own bird 

 might be made equally serviceable. 



E.Kcepting during the breeding-season, it is a solitary bird. It mates 

 early in February, -and even earlier in the winter. Early in the fall tlie 

 families separate, and each bird seems to keep to itself until tlie period of 

 reproduction returns. 



In confinement, birds of this family Ijecome cpiite tame, can be trained to 

 habits of wonderful docility and obedience, and evince even an affection for 

 the one who cares for their wants. 



This species appears to nest almost exclusively on cliffs, and rarely, if ever, 

 to make any nests in other situations. In a few rare and exceptional cases 

 this Falcon has been known to construct a nest in trees. Mr. Ord speaks 

 of its thus nesting among the cedar swamps of New Jersey ; but this fact 

 has been discredited, and there has been no recent evidence of its thus breed- 

 ing in that State. Mr. Dall found its nest in a tree in Alaska, but makes no 

 mention of its peculiarities. 



The eggs of this species are of a rounded-oval shape, and range from 2.00 

 to 2.22 inches in length, and from l.GO to 1.90 in width. Five esfffs, from 

 Anderson River, have an average size of 2.09 by 1.G5 inclies. An egg from 

 Mount Tom, Mass., is larger tlian any other I have seen, measui'ing 2.22 

 inches in length by 1.70 in breadth, and differs in the brigliter coloring and 

 a larger proportion of red in its markings. The ground is a deep cream- 

 color, but is rarely visible, being generally so entirely overlaid by markings 

 as nowhere to appear. In many the ground-color appears to have a reddish 

 tinge, probably due to the brown markings which so nearly conceal it. In 

 others, nothing appears but a deep coating of dark ferruginous or chocolate- 

 brown, not homogeneous, but of varying deptli of coloring, and here and 

 there deepening into almost blackness. In one egg, from Anderson River, 

 the cream-colored ground is \-ery apparent, and only sparingly marked with 

 blotches of a light brown, with a shading of bronze. An egg from tlie cab- 

 inet of Mr. Dickinson, (jf Springfield, taken on ]\Iouut Tom, Massacliusetts, 



