30 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



"they harried the Yellow-headed Blackbirds so mercilessly that they 

 set up an outcry whenever a bird of any size appeared on the skyline." 

 Strange, indeed, seems the incident witnessed by Pemberton and 

 Carriger. They (1915) write that a prairie falcon was seen on May 

 27, 1909, "to sail into a flock of sea gulls flying near the beach and 

 strike one of them to the sand. After performing the trick the bird 

 flew away, evidently not caring to eat his prey." 



We have already spoken of the prairie falcon taking doves and 

 valley quail, but it also preys upon many other game birds as well. 

 Willard (1916) says that they take considerable toll from the flocks 

 of band-tailed pigeons. "These terrors of the air will dash into a 

 tree and grab a pigeon off a. branch, rarely making an unsuccessful 

 raid." Still, because this falcon prefers open country, its raids fall 

 more severely on game birds of the open, such as valley quail and 

 Gambel's quail, and it has found the newly established European 

 partridge a choice morsel. Munro (1929) says: "The present relative 

 abundance (the species is by no means common) is perhaps due to a 

 recent increase of European Gray Partridge which these falcons hunt 

 persistently. When a Prairie Falcon passes along one of the open 

 hillsides frequented by these birds coveys rise in every direction. No 

 better aid in estimating the partridge population of a hillside could 

 be devised." 



Even the sharp-tailed grouse is not too large a quarry. Bendire 

 (1892) says that he found "the remains of a Columbian Sharp-tailed 

 Grouse in the crop of one specimen." E. S. Cameron (1907) and 

 Henninger and Jones (1909) mention this grouse as prairie falcon prey, 

 without giving further particulars. Goss (1891) cites both ducks and 

 prairie chickens as victims. When the boldness and audacity of this 

 falcon are considered, it does not sound strange to hear that it will 

 catch ring-necked pheasants at a game farm. Jewett (1926) says: 

 "On November 24, 1925, at the Oregon State Game Farm at Corvallis, 

 Oregon, one of the farm employees shot an adult female Falco mexi- 

 canus that was in pursuit of a female Ring-neck Pheasant. * * * 

 This is the first Prairie Falcon to be seen there, and only the second 

 record of the species in the Humid Coast Belt of western Oregon of 

 which I have knowledge." Mrs. Bailey (1928) also speaks of this 

 habit: "A Ring-necked that was once attacked by one was so terrified 

 that, at each swoop of the Falcon, it would flatten itself against the 

 ground." 



In addition to the upland game birds, prairie falcons sometimes 

 attack water birds. Decker and Bowles (1930) say: "A large female 

 at Santa Barbara, California, had killed a Coot (Fulica americana) 

 with which it tried to fly across the road." E. S. Cameron has 

 known the prairie falcon to prey upon mallards and both kinds of 

 teals. He (1907) says: "At the time of their migration Green-winged 



