54 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



gulls, terns, petrels, wild ducks from the size of mallards down to 

 teals, small shearwaters, small herons, coots, gallinules, rails, wood- 

 cock, snipe, sandpipers, plovers, quail, grouse, ptarmigans, pheasants, 

 sparrow hawks, cuckoos, kingfishers, mourning doves, flickers and 

 other woodpeckers, marsh hawks, whippoorwills, nighthawks, chimney 

 swifts, kingbirds, jays, crows, phoebes, starlings, bobolinks, black- 

 birds, orioles, grackles, meadowlarks, crossbills, goldfinches, grosbeaks, 

 juncos and other sparrows, purple martins, swallows, tanagers, 

 thrashers, catbirds, warblers, nuthatches, robins, thrushes, and 

 bluebirds. Probably the very largest and the very smallest birds on 

 this list are less often taken than those of intermediate size; pigeons, 

 flickers, jays, meadowlarks, and other birds of similar size probably 

 constitute the bulk of the food in inland localities; on the seacoast 

 and islands, these hawks live almost exclusively on the smaller 

 sea birds. 



Dr. Paul L. Errington (1933) writes: 



It is plain that domestic pigeon is the Prairie du Sac peregrine's main staple. 

 Bluejays, flickers, and icterids figure prominently. Next in order might be con- 

 sidered mourning doves, nighthawks, killdeers, and young domestic chickens. I 

 have record of but the one duck (green-winged teal) from the feeding places, 

 although Wisconsin, of course, is not much of a waterfowl state. Mammals do 

 not seem to be brought in at all. 



Various authors cite definite instances of ruffed grouse preyed upon by pere- 

 grines, but, while my nests were in excellent ruffed grouse country, I have not 

 found a single trace in bone and feather debris from the Wisconsin falcons. In- 

 deed drumming logs were located within 50 to 150 yards of two of the peregrine 

 nest sites, and I cannot recall a visit at which grouse were not to be flushed. The 

 impunity with which these grouse habitually frequented the vicinity of the pere- 

 grine haunts I ascribe to the entirely different habitats and adaptations of the 

 two birds; the falcon's long pointed wings arc ill-designed to whip into the brush 

 in pursuit of a short-winged compact flyer like the ruffed grouse. 



* * * Pigeons are spoken of as a nuisance by most of the farmers with 

 whom I am acquainted; the rest of the prey is drawn largely from species that 

 plainly thrive in spite of — or perhaps because of — the predator pressure they 

 have always borne. And the Mourning Doves, swifts, nighthawks, martins and 

 teal one might be pardoned for reckoning legitimate game for an aerial hunter 

 equipped only with natural weapons, however superb. 



Mammals form an insignificant part of the duck hawk's food. Re- 

 mains of hares, rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, and field mice have 

 been found near their nests, as well as pellets made up of fur and 

 bones of mammals. Even beetles and dragonflies have been found 

 in their stomachs. Audubon (1840) says that they sometimes feed 

 on dead fish; he found the eyes and scales of fishes in their stomachs. 



The duck hawk is a clean feeder and a good sportsman. It wants 

 live game and prefers to capture it on the wing. It is the swiftest of 

 our birds of prey and can easily overtake our fastest flying birds. If 

 the bird is not too heavy for it to carry, it dashes along beside or 

 under it, often turning upside down, seizes the bird in its talons, and 



