THE PEAIKIE FALCON. 29 I 



easy and gracefully accompli.slied Ijy rapid wing beats and alternate sailing, 

 and when once launched after tlie selected victim they are as swift as an 

 arrow. 



I believe that the Prairie Falcon nests almost invariably on rocky cliffs 

 or perpendicular Ijluffs, on ledges or in small cavities in the same, and l)ut 

 rarely in other situations. Col. N. S. Goss, however, in his "Birds of Kansas," 

 mentions that two eggs of this species now in his Ijrother's collection, were 

 taken April 28, 1880, at Marysville, Missomi, from a tree, the nest being 35 

 feet from the ground ; it was not stated whether the nest was an open one in 

 tlie forks of branches, or in a hole of the tree, but doubtless tlic lattt-i-. Mr. 

 Walter E. Bryant, of San P'rancisco, California, who has taken a number of 

 sets of eggs of this species, found them invariably on cliffs from 30 to 100 feet 

 from the bottom. A handsome set of five eggs, which he kindly jn-esented 

 to tlie writer, was taken on March 25, l.*"82, at Pine Canon, near ]\lount 

 Diablo, California, and were fresh when found; tliey were laid in a cavity 

 of a cliff about 4 feet in depth on some sand and bits of fur, feathers, etc., 

 ejected by the birds, there being no nest. The cliff" was about 100 feet high 

 and perpendicular, and the site about 30 feet from its base. 



Sets of eyo-s of the Prairie Falcon now in tlie U. S. National Museiun 

 collection, from near Gilmer, and others from the Wind River Mountains, 

 Wyoming, as well as from Battle Mountain, Nevada, were all taken in sim- 

 ilar situations. The first egga of this species brought to tlie attention of 

 naturalists were a set of three taken on Gros Ventre River, in the Wind 

 River Mountains, by Dr. F. V. Hayden, on June 8, 1860. 



Mr. Walter E. Bryant also found a pair of these Falcons nesting in a 

 high cliff near San Esteban, Lower California, on April 18, 1889. The 

 earliest date on which he took full sets of eggs of this species in California 

 was ]\[arch 24, 1881, and fresh eggs were taken liy him as late as April 7. 

 These dates are probably as early as they nest anywhere within their 

 I'ange. Farther north nidification is pr(itracted tlu-ough April and the Ijegin- 

 ning of May, and occasionally even into the first week in June. As a rule 

 tliere is but little of a nest, if any, the eggs being usually laid on the bare 

 rock, among some of the refuse carried there as food, such as bones, bits 

 of fur, and feathers. 



The eggs number from three to five, sets of five seeming to be the 

 usnal nundjer found on the Pacific coast, wliile in the interior sets of three 

 or four are perhaps more common. Occasionally but two eggs have been 

 found, l)ut it is doubtful if such so-called sets were comi)lete when taken. 

 Should they lose their first clutch of eggs a second and smaller one is 

 sometimes laid. The eggs are deposited at intervals of a day or two, and 

 nidification lasts probably from three to four weeks. The }-oung when first 

 hatched are covered with a thick white fluffy down, and they grow rapidh". 

 As soon as they are fully grown and able to care for themselves they are 

 turned adrift to make their own living, and fall easy victims to tlie guns 



