38 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



were usually seen bathing in the shallows of the river shore." And 

 in a letter Mr. Taverner adds: "We saw the birds splashing in the 

 water from afar in true bird-bathing style." 



Voice. — The notes of the prairie falcon are somewhat similar to 

 those of the American sparrow hawk but arc louder, fiercer, and 

 wilder. Bendire (1892) says: "Their alarm note was a rapidly re- 

 peated 'kee, kee, kee,' and a sort of cackle." Peabody (1907) says 

 there are two cries "that might be written down: a rattling, 'Kr-r-r-r,' 

 with rising intonation; and a peevish, whining 'kruk.' This I find 

 compared in my note book to a noise made occasionally by flickers, 

 or to one call of the guinea hen." Decker and Bowles (1930) say: 

 "The cry may be described as a shrill yelping 'ldk-ldk-kik-kik-kik,' 

 repeated over and over again. It strongly suggests a combination of 

 the cackle of a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperi) at its nest and the 

 alarm notes of the Greater Yellow-legs (Totanus mclanoleucus) ." But 

 the best general description that we know of is that given by Tyler 

 (1923), who writes: 



The voice of the Prairie Falcon is, on the whole, rather disappointing. A 

 series of rapidly-repeated screeching, whistling, or cackling notes of varying tone 

 and pitch constitute the usual calls, and these are most often heard in the spring 

 months near the nesting cliffs. Sometimes these notes are given with consider- 

 able spirit, but often there is recognizable a sort of indifferent tone. In many 

 cases I have been unable to detect any difference between the voices of the male 

 and female of a pair of falcons, but some females, which may be old birds, have 

 harsh cackling voices, while a few males with which I have come in contact have 

 rather pleasing high-pitched whistling calls. While inspecting nests I have often 

 found that one of the pair of birds will remain silent while the other makes all 

 the noise, but this is not always the case. In the majority of instances it has 

 been the male that whistled while his mate kept silence. Occasionally, both 

 birds of a pair will become enthused and the resultant din is most thrilling. 



Enemies. — Such a bird as the prairie falcon is naturally let alone by 

 most birds, and, because of its lonely life, contacts with others are 

 rare. No doubt antagonisms between two or more pairs of these 

 falcons are fierce and intense. Howard (1902) writes: 



When we were within a few hundred feet of the cliff we were greeted by a sudden 

 screaming, and on looking up saw three prairie falcons in an aerial combat. 



Their flight was very swift and graceful; undoubtedly two of the birds were the 

 pair nesting in the cliff and the other an intruder. One bird of the pair was 

 following in close pursuit of the enemy while its mate would ascend high into the 

 air and with folded wings drop like a falling stone and at the same time utter a 

 shrill scream. Just at the second one would naturally expect to see the enemy 

 dashed to pieces, a slight turn of the tail would carry him to one side and the 

 would-be assassin would dart harmlessly by like a flash. 



Most of the small birds keep out of the falcon's way as far as possible. 

 Still, I once saw a prairie falcon pursued across a valley by a scolding 

 Clark's nutcracker, although it soon escaped into the top of a dead 

 fir. And Pierce (1915) says: "On January 9, 1915, 1 collected another 



