X38 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



This curious race of Falco communis is a good illustration of the climatic 

 peculiarity of the northwest coast region, to which I have often referred 

 before ; the same melanistic tendency being apparent in birds of other 

 species from the same region, as an example of which I may mention the 

 Black Merlin {Falco msalon, var. sucMcj/i), which is a perfect miniature of the 

 present bird. 



Habits. The Great-footed Hawk of North America is very closely allied 

 to the well-known Peregrine Falcon of Europe, and so closely resembles it 

 that by many writers, even at the present day, it is regarded as identical 

 with it. Without doubt, the habits of the two races are very nearly the 

 same, though the peculiarities of the North American bird are not so well 

 known as are those of the European. In its distribution it is somewhat 

 erratic, for the most part confined to the rocky sea-coast, the river-banks, 

 and the high ground of the northeastern parts of America. ' It is known to 

 breed in a few isolated rocky crags in various parts of the country, even as 

 far to the south as Pennsylvania, and it occurs probably both as migrant 

 and resident in several of the West India Islands, in Central and in South 

 America. A single specimen was taken by Dr. Woodhouse in the Creek 

 country of the Indian Territory. Two individuals are reported by Von 

 Pelzeln as having been taken in Brazil. The Newtons met with it in St. 

 Croix. Mr. Gosse found it in Jamaica, and Dr. Gundlach gives it as a 

 bird of Cuba. Jardine states it to be a bird of Bermuda, and also that it 

 has been taken in the Straits of Magellan. A single specimen was taken 

 at Dueiias, Guatemala, in February, by Mr. Salvin. 



On the Pacific coast this Falcon has been traced as far south as the 

 limit of tlie land. Dr. Cooper met with only two pairs, in ]\Iarch, 1854, 

 frequenting a higli wooded cliff at Shoal-water Bay. Dr. Suckley procured 

 a single specimen from Steilacoom. Dr. Cooper states that the habits of 

 these corresponded with those described for the F. anatum and F. 2Jcrcgrinus, 

 and that, like these Falcons, it is a terror to all land animals weaker than 

 itself It is said to breed on the rocky cliffs of the Pacific. 



An individual of this bird was taken by Colonel Grayson at the Tres 

 Marias Islands. Wlien shot, it was endeavoring to capture a Sparrow- 

 hawk,, indicating its indifference as to the game it pursues. He adds that 

 this bird attacks witli vigor everything it sees, from the size of a Mallard 

 Duck down, and is the terror of all small birds. Its range must be very 

 great, as it often ventures far out to sea. On his passage from Mazatlan 

 to San Francisco, in 1858, on the bark Carlota, one of these Falcons came 

 on board more than a hundred miles off the coast of Lower California, 

 and took up its quarters on the main-top yard, where it remained two 

 days, during which time it captured several Dusky Petrels. It would dart 

 headlong upon these unsuspecting birds, seldom missing its aim. It would 

 then return to its resting-place and partly devour its prize. At other times 

 it dropped its victims into the sea in wanton sport. Finally, as if tired of 



