534 THE PIGEON HAWK. 



No. 215. 



PIGEON HAWK. 



A. (). IJ. No. 357. Faico columbariiis Ijiin. 



Description. — Old male: Above bluish gray or dark slaty blue; feathers 

 with i)lack shafts and pale or rusty edges; general color usually interrupted by 

 outcropping white or buiTy on nape ; tip of wing formed by second primary ; first 

 shorter than third; first and second sharjily notched on the inner web; the second 

 and third slightly emarginate on the luUcr web; inner webs of all t|nills barred 

 or spotted with whitish ; outer webs with traces of ashy markings ; tail darkening 

 posteriorly, white-ti];)pcd, and crossed by four narrow, whitish bars, the anterior one 

 concealed ; below white or whitish, nearly immaculate on throat, darkening poste- 

 riorly to tawny or ochraceous, heavily streaked with dark uml:)er. sometimes 

 changing to bars on the flanks; sides of throat and cheeks finely pcncilldl with 

 innber ; iris brown ; bill and claws blue-black ; feet yellow ; cere and base of bill 

 greenish yellow. This high plumage is quite rare. Adult female and male in 

 usual dress: Above dark umber-brown, glaucous or not, the head varied bv nuich 

 huffy or rusty edging, with blackish central streaks; wing-spots ochraceous-buff ; 

 tail with pattern as before, but blackening toward tip, and vvitli ochraceous-buff 

 cross-bars ; below darker buffy all over, or tawny medially as well as posteriorly ; 

 streaking of variable intensity. Immature: Perhaps lighter above, and with 

 more ochraceous-buffy edging; otherwise not appreciably, or at least constantly, 

 diit'erent from adult. Adult male, length; 10.CH3-11.50 (254-2Q2.1); wing 7.00 

 (177.8); tail 4.90 (124.5); bill .48 (12.2). Adult female, length; 12.00-13.00 

 f304-8-330-^) ; wing 8.50 (215.9); tail 5-40 (137-2); bill .57 (14.5). 



Recognition Marks. — "Little Hawk" size; swift flight; sharp wings; stout 

 proportions otherwise; heavily umber-streaked lower parts, tail crossed bv four 

 whitish bars as compared with f. richardsouii, darker; lighter and more exten- 

 sively spotted than F. c. suckleyi. 



Nesting. — Xest: in hollow limbs of trees or in crannies about cliffs. Eggs: 

 4 or 5, creamy-white, spotted and blotched with reddish brown or chocolate, or 

 else cinnamon-brown sprinkled and dotted with heavier shades of the same color. 

 Av. size, 1.62 X 1.22 (41.2x30.9). Season: c. j\lay ist; one brood. 



General Range. — North America at large, south to the West Indies and 

 northern South America. Breeds chiefly north of the United States. 



Range in Washington. — Not common resident and migrant east of the 

 Cascades ; rare or casual on the W'est-side. 



Authorities. — :' "faleo ASsaloii." ( )rn. Com., [ourn, Ac. Nat. Sci. I'hila.. \'II., 

 1837, 193. ?■ Cooper and Suckley, Re]). I'ac. R. R, Surv. Nil., jit. 11., i860, p. 142 

 (possibly /■'. f. suckleyi). ? Lazvrence, .Auk, \'ol. IX., Jan. 1892, p. 43 (Not cer- 

 tainly identified). Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, \'oI. I., 1892, ]). 301. (T). 

 C&S'. L'. D'. Sr. 1>'. B. E. 



Specimens. — (U. ofW.) Prov. B. E. 



