274 PEREGEINE FAICGN. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nesis, placed on rocky cliffs. Although the eggs are occasionally placed on the naked rock, there is usually a rudely 

 constructed nest composed of sticks and moss. 



Eags, two to four in number, ratlier oval or spherical in form, varying from creamy-white to reddish-brown in color, 

 spotted, dotted, and blotched, with reddish-brown and chocolate of varying shades, usually so thickly as to nearly, or even 

 completely, obscure the ground color. Dimensions from l'H()x2'(iO to l'85s2"32. 



HABITS. 



The Peregrine Falcons are among the most noted of the order, for they are the swift- 

 est £lier.s of them all, not only surpassing all others in speed but also excelling them in the 

 ease with which they perform rapid, aerial evolutions. It is a well-attested fact, that Ducks 

 move at the astonishing rate of upward of a hundred miles an hour, yet I have repeatedly 

 seen this fine Falcon pursue and capture them when on the wing. While camping near 

 the Ilaulover Canal in Eastern Florida, some years ago, my attention was attracted by the 

 movements of a Peregrine Falcon which was accustomed to perch on the top of a dead tree, 

 not far away, in order to watch for Ducks that were constantly flying past this point, on 

 their way in from sea to rest on the quiet waters of Indian River. A flock of Scaups 

 would come booming along before a ^'tilT, easterly breeze, crossing directly in front of the 

 Falcon and perhaps fifty yards from him, but at a considerable elevation. He would wait 

 until the Ducks were nearly opposite him, then launching into air, would meet them at 

 nearly right angles. When the bird left the branch, he was plainly visible but in his pas- 

 sage over the intervening space between his perch and the track of his prey, he was abso- 

 lutely invisible, as he moved so quickly that the eye was unable to follow him, and when he 

 struck the Duck at which he aimed, I could fairly hear its bones crack, so great was the 

 shock; while it was apparently killed as instantaneously as if it had been vshot. In spite 

 of his skill in capturing Ducks, this Falcon would tamely allow a Marsh Hawk to rob him, 

 as I have related in the previous pages. I have also seen the Peregrine Falcon pursue 

 the swiftly flying Shore Birds and capture them when on the wing. 



The Peregrine Falcons breed early in the season, in March in the more southern sec- 

 tions, about the middle of April in Western Massachusetts, and in May on Grand Menan 

 and northward. The nests are, according to my experience, always placed on the rocky 

 shelf of a perpendicular cliff, in a situation nearly or quite inaccessible and often in ex- 

 posed places. There is a pair which nest every year at Grand Menan in a niche on the 

 face of a peculiar precipice, known as the Seven Days' Work, that rises some three hun- 

 dred feet above the water. The eyrie is situated about midway between the top and bot- 

 tom of the steep wall and doubtless many ornithologists have watched the birds, as I have 

 done, with longing eyes as they circled quietly about their well-chosen home. Watching, 

 however, is the only feat that any one has yet accomplished, and if the stories regarding 

 the longevity of the Peregrine Falcons be true, collectors of a coming gerieration will have 

 the same opportunity afforded them, without being able to place their hands on the covet- 

 ed eggs. 



These Hawks are rarely found far from their breeding grounds in summer but, dur- 

 ing the migrations, disperse over the country, at which time they are particularly common 



