PRAIRIE FALCON 33 



(1923), Dawson (1923), and Hix (no date) all record "ground squirrels" 

 of various species; Cooper (1870), Ridgway (1877), Goss (1891), 

 Bendire (1892), Henninger and Jones (1909), and Sclater (1912) 

 specify "hares" or "jack rabbits"; Decker and Bowles (1930) say that 

 their food during the nesting season, "so far as we have seen, consists 

 almost entirely of cotton-tail rabbits and young jack rabbits"; while 

 Sclater (1912) adds "prairie dogs" to the mammal list. Bailey and 

 Niedrach (1933), operating in Colorado, give us more details: "A few 

 minutes later, we saw the falcon darting low over the homes of the 

 prairie dogs. He dipped close to the earth and struck one of the 

 rodents scurrying for cover, and, with scarcely slackening speed, 

 mounted into the sky with a young prairie dog dangling from his 

 talons. He circled higher, as though to look us over, and then flew 

 to a pinnacle of rock where we could see him tearing at his prey." 

 As said before these falcons can kill prey larger than themselves, 

 and this is particularly true of the jack rabbits that are fully twice 

 as heavy as their destroyers. 



So it seems evident that many of us know only a part of the story. 

 Unfortunately, only one study of the food of the prairie falcon has 

 been made, so far as I know, and the details of that are given under 

 subheading "Young" (p. 24). It is a good account, but it shows us 

 that there is much more to be learned about the food of these birds. 

 Strange to say, when we consider the prowess and strength of the 

 prairie falcons, there are several records of lizard and insect eating. 

 Fisher (1893b) says: "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." Goss (1891), also, lists 

 lizards as one of the items of food, but does not speak of insects. 

 Taverner (1926) says: "On occasions it even turns seriously to 

 grasshoppers and the crop of at least one specimen examined by the 

 writer was filled with these insects. Of eight other stomachs examined, 

 3 contained game birds; 5, other birds; 2, mammals; and 2, insects." 

 Tyler gives an interesting account of a prairie falcon hunting on the 

 ground. He speaks of the probability that it was after a jack rabbit; 

 but, to me, it seems very likely that it was after rodents or insects. 

 I have personally seen them hunting grasshoppers in just that way. 

 Tyler (1923) says: 



That this species sometimes seeks its food in mucli more lowly manner than one 

 would expect is evidenced by an incident which came to my notice on January 13, 

 1920, near Hughson, Stanislaus County. I was sitting in an automobile talking 

 with an acquaintance when I noticed a Prairie Falcon on the ground in a large 

 grain field. * * * He was hopping over the ground and seemed to be care- 

 fully looking at the many small bunches of stubble which had accumulated as a 

 result of the recent plowing of the field. The falcon was repeatedly seen to hop 

 up onto small clumps of this straw, and scrutinize them carefully as if in search of 



