THE OOLOGIST. 



101 



VOL. X. 



The Oologist. 



ALBION, N. y.. APRIL, 1893. 



KO. 4 



The Raptores of Michigan. 



BY SCOLOPAX. 



Perhaps some of the regular reailers 

 of the Or)LOGiST may recall that I began 

 au annotated catalogue of the rapacious 

 birds of Michigan. At that time March 

 1889,1 wrote of six species of hawks, 

 the list being discontinued the follow- 

 ing month. It is now my intention to 

 go on with this list of Michigan Rap- 

 tores and complete my notes. 



Duck Ha.wk, Falco peregrinns (ma- 

 lum. This darling falcon was first 

 recorded as a Michigan species, by 

 Sager in his pioneer list of 1839. It has 

 since been listed b}^ Dr. Miles in tbe 

 State Geological Survey, 18G0; Cabot's 

 Birds of Lake Superior, 18."30; Boies's 

 list of birds of Southern Michigan, 

 1875; and by all of the more recent 

 lists. Steere in his list, 'Migration of 

 Michigan Birds,' gives this bird as 

 breeding in the state but does not 

 substantiate it with any notes what- 

 ever. 



The best supposition regarding this 

 species, is probably to embrace it as an 

 occasional straggler, but it may even- 

 tually prove to breed iu some sections 

 as it is a great wanderer. 



The Mississippi Kite. lotinia viiss- 

 i.<tsippie7isis, and (j\HVALCoyi,Fn!co r«.s- 

 lirolus f/ryfales, are both embraced in 

 lists of Michigan l)irds, hut enough of 

 evidence has not yet been adduced to 

 convince me of their reliability as 

 birds of our state. 



Pigeon Hawk, Falco eolumharius . 

 This is the true Pigeon Hawk, although 

 the Sparrow Hawk as well as the Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk are often improperly 

 called Pigeon Hawk. It is soinewliat 

 larger than the Sparrow Hawk, and 

 though qnite similar in llight and other 

 movements, is readily identiticMl at a 

 considerable distance. 



The Pigeon Hawk is embraced by 

 nearly all lists but is considered rare 

 by all but one authority, who says 

 "common migrant." Professor J. B. 

 Steere of Ann Arbor says the bird 

 breeds in Michigan, but this assertion 

 has as yet been unsubstantiated. Still 

 the species may nest north of 45 de- 

 grees North latitude but as yet I pre- 

 fer to call it a rare transient. 



Richardson's Merlin, Falco richard- 

 sonis. This bix'd was taken in the 

 state by the Reverend Charles Fox, as 

 reported in the appendix of Ridgeway's 

 Birds of Illinois. I know nothing 

 about the species and will enil)race it 

 as an accidental visitor. 



Amehican Spakkow Hawk, Falco 

 sparverius. Quite a common summer 

 resident, arriving from the south in 

 April arid departing in October. It is 

 a lively, interesting bird and generally 

 (juite well known to country people. 

 It is never abundant, and cannot be 

 compared to the Red tailed Hawks iu 

 l)oint of numbers, but as it lives 

 more in ihc. open tiian the liuteos 

 it is corres|)()ndiiigly oftener seen 

 at close quarters. It is (juite unsuspi- 

 cious when reared iu a locality where- 

 it is unmolested and often remains 

 jx'rched on the fence or dead limb ;at 

 tli(! side of the road as a team pass(\s by. 

 Tlie Sparrow Hawk prefers a dead limb 

 for a perch and will lly man}- nxls out 

 of its route iu oider to settle on a dead 

 tree. It much nion^ often sits on a rail 

 ftnee, or stuli, in a partially cleai'ed 

 country, and will prefe.ral)ly alight on 

 the groniul or a house or barn than in a 

 fully foliagcd tree. When it perches, 

 it closes its wings so quickly that it is a 

 eau.se of wondfruieiit to the observer. 



As this interfsting little bird invar- 

 iably Lays its <'ggs in a cavity of a dead 

 tree, so far as the observations of Mich- 



