FALCONS 



87 



PRAIRIE FALCON 



Falco mexicanus Schlcgcl 



A. () I'. Number 355 



Other Names. — Anioricaii Laiiiicr ( female ) or 

 Ainericaii Lanncret (male). 



General Description. — [.eiiKtli : male, i8 iiiehes ; 

 female, JO inches. Color above, brownish-ash ; below, 

 white, spotted. Outer primary notched on inner web; 

 back of tarsus, broadly bare. 



Color. — .\dults : .-\bove, brownish-ash, each feather 

 with a paler border, crown more uniform, back of head 

 and (Kj/'r more streaked; primaries, darker brown, 

 sharply edged with paler; tail, pale brownish-gray with 

 barring or indentations of whitish, tip, white; under 

 parts, dull white marked everywhere except on throat 

 with firm spots of dark brown, more drop-shaped on 

 breast, more oval on abdomen, enlarging and tending to 

 form bars on flanks, absent or very few on under tail- 



coverts ; a broad dark-brown streak from gape forming 

 a mustache ; bill, dark bluish horn, yellow at base and 

 below; feet, yellow; iris, brown. Young: Diflfer from 

 adults in showing more light brown above and in being 

 more heavily spotted below on a buff or ocher ground; 

 feet, livid. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: On clifTs or on the steep 

 faces of cut banks of streams; constructed of sticks 

 with a lining of grass. Eggs: 2 to S, creamy-wdiite, 

 almost entirely obscured with spots and splashes of 

 cinnamon and chestnut. 



Distribution. — From eastern border of the Great 

 Plains and from southern British Columbia and south- 

 eastern Saskatchewan to southern Lower California and 

 southern Mexico; casual east to Minnesota and Illinois. 



'Ihc I'r.'iiric I'^alcon is the .\iiU'rican represen- 

 tative of the Lanners and Lannerets of theeastern 

 hemisphere. NX'itli short quick wing beats, like 

 the Duck Hawk's flight, it sweeps over the west- 

 ern prairies and sage brush deserts. It is a bird 

 of the open, resorting to the perpendicular side 

 of canons or isolated buttes to rear its young. 

 From these commanding eminences its keen 

 vision ranges over the many sqtiare miles of terri- 

 tory from which it takes its toll of birds and 

 small rodents, especially of ground squirrels. 



Though nrdin;irily shy these T'alcons are bold, 

 daring hunters, pursuing and capturing their 

 food with an im])etuosity which almost equals the 

 Duck Hawk's. 



Their cry of I'Vert-wert-zuert-zvert-zvert is a 

 more mellow call than that of other Hawks, 

 resembling the notes of the Rough-leg at nesting 

 time. They utter two other calls — a rattling 

 k-r-rr, rising in pitch at end, and a whining 

 " kruk " very similar to the " clap " of the 

 Flicker. 



DUCK HAWK 

 Falco peregrinus anatum Bonaparte 



A. O. U. Number 356a -See Color Plates 43, 51 



Other Names. — Peregrine Falcon; .American Pere- 

 grine; Great-looted Hawk; Wandering Falcon; Tercel 

 (male ). 



General Description. — Length: male. 18 inches; 

 female. 19 inches. Spread of wings, 40 to 46 inches. 

 Color above, bluish-ash ; below, yellowish, barred. Outer 

 primary notched on inner web ; tarsus broadly bare at 

 the base, only slightly feathered in the front, and about 

 the length of the middle toe with claw; upper section 

 of bill with an additional point or tooth near the tip 

 and a corresponding notch in the lower section. 



Color. — Adults: Feathers of extreme forehead, 

 whitish; crown, sides of head to level of eyes behind, 

 space in front and below eyes, dark slate color; rest of 

 upper parts, a fine dark bluish-ash, all the feathers with 

 paler edges but these lighter markings more obsolete on 

 rump and upper tail-feathers ; tail crossed with 5 or 6 



narrow bars of black, the one nearest the tip much 

 broader, tail, tipped with white ; greater wing-coverts 

 and secondaries barred ; primaries, dark dusky-black 

 tipped with whitish; a strong black streak from gape 

 forming a mustache, and almost cutting oiT the light 

 yclloziish under parts, a patch of similar color on the 

 side of the head ; throat Zi'hitish, usually unmarked, as 

 is also the breast; rest of under parts, closely and 

 regularly barred with blackish brown, more pronounced 

 and larger on sides and under tail-coverts ; thigh 

 feathers finely and regularly barred transversely with 

 the same color, these markings tending to broad arrow- 

 head shapes ; bill, bluish-black, more yellow at base ; 

 cere, gape, and feet, yellow ; claws, blackish ; iris, dark 

 brown. Young : The extreme forehead, lores, throat, 

 and patch on side of head, plain pale tawny-white ; crown, 

 streak behind eye, mustache, and entire upper parts. 



