126 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



maun on the Farallones, on the California coast ; but Dr. Cooper thinks it 

 rarely visits the coast border, though he several times saw, near San Diego, 

 a bird which ho supposed to belong to this species. At Martinez, in 

 December, 1863, he succeeded in shooting one as it flew from its perch at 

 the approacli of the wagon in which he was riding. 



It is said to extend its migrations in summer to the Upper Columbia, 

 avoiding the densely forest-clad regions. Dr. Heermann saw a young un- 

 fledged individual at San Francisco, from which it may be inferred that a 

 few may breed within the State. 



The first individual of this species was taken by Dr. Townsend during his 

 trip across the continent, in 1834. It was obtained among the mountainous 

 regions of Oregon, near the sources of the Platte Eiver. Mr. Cassin states 

 that Dr. Heermann procured several specimens in the Sacramento Valley. 



Mr. Cassin remarks that this species, except in its greatly superior size 

 and strength, bears a very close resemblance to the well-known Jugger 

 Falcon of India, a bird much used for the purposes of falconry. 



Dr. Kennerly, who procured a single specimen of this species while his 

 party was encamped on the Little Colorado, found it busily engaged in seek- 

 ing its prey among the bushes that grew along the river-bank. It was shy, 

 and was procured with difficulty. 



Dr. Suckley speaks of this Hawk as not at all rare in Oregon. He pro- 

 cured a specimen of it at Fort Dalles, in the beginning of the winter of 

 1854-55, which had been killed in the act of carrying off a barn-yard fowl 

 of about its own weight, and which it had just seized near the door of a 

 dwelling-house, — an act demonstrative of a union of courage, ferocity, and 

 strength inferior to none of its congeners. 



Dr. Cooper characterizes this as one of the shyest of Hawks, as it is also 

 one of the swiftest, flying with rapid flappings of the wings. It seems to 

 prefer the borders of prairies, where it catches hares, quails, and even larger 

 game. 



Mr. Ridgway informs me that this Hawk was seen by him in Southern 

 Illinois, near Mt. Carmel, September 27, 1871. It had been obtained once 

 before within the limits of Illinois, but in the northwestern part of the State, 

 at Rock Island, by I. Dickenson Sergeant, of Philadelphia, and presented by 

 him to the Academy of Natural Science. 



Its nest and eggs were taken in Utah by Mr. Ricksecker. I have no 

 notes in regard to the former. A finely marked specimen of one of the eggs 

 procured by him is in my cabinet. It measures 2.15 inches in length by 

 1.65 in breadth. It is of a somewhat less rounded-oval shape than are the 

 eggs of the anatinn. The ground-color is a rich cream, with a slightly 

 pinkish tinge, and is beautifully marked with blotches of various sizes, 

 shapes, and shades of a red-brown tinged with chestnut, and with occasional 

 shadings of purplish. These are confluent about one end, which in the 

 specimen before me chances to be the smaller one. It very closely resem- 

 bles the eggs of the European F. lanarius. 



