The Birds of Wyoming. 73 



355. Falco mexicanus Schleg. 

 Prairie Falcon. 



Summer resident ; abundant. In Wyoming this bird can 

 be said to be very beneficial. There are no notes of conse- 

 quence regarding the food of this species in the state. An- 

 nually during the last week in July and the first week in Au- 

 gust I have seen the young of this species on the table lands 

 in considerable numbers, where they were hunting. By 8 or 

 9 o'clock a. m., they had usually gorged themselves upon 

 young squirrels and prairie dogs, and would be so torpid that 

 one could drive to within twenty yards before they would 

 fly from the rock or possibly from the ground where they 

 were resting. I have killed several birds when in this stupid 

 condition and found that they had all been feeding upon ro- 

 dents chiefly. Occasionally a young bird had been included 

 in a meal ; but these were nothing as compared with the ground 

 squirrels. Fisher, (Hawks and Owls of the United States, 

 p. 104) has the following note on the food of this Falcon : 



"The food of this Falcon consists of birds, mammals, rep- 

 tiles, and the larger insects. Among birds it is partial to 

 prairie hens, doves, blackbirds, and in fact any species whose 

 size furnishes a tempting lure. In the destruction of injurious 

 rodents it is of considerable service. Gophers, prairie dogs, 

 rabbits, and mice are greedily devoured, and often in locali- 

 ties where colonies of the first two animals occur it is seen fly- 

 ing over or sitting near the 'towns' on the lookout for the ap- 

 pearance of its prey. Lizards are occasionally taken, and, 

 among the insects, the large crickets and grasshoppers which 

 are so abundant in some sections of the West, are also eaten. 



"Dr. George Bird Grinnell says of this Falcon : 'It was 

 seen daily pursuing the blackbirds about the station, and at 

 Medicine Bow one of these birds had almost depopulated the 

 only dove-cote in the town.' (Forest and Stream, Vol. XII, 

 1879, p. 365.)" 



Bond reports them common at Cheyenne ; Jesurun, quite 



