256 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



the " Palisades " of the Cedar River, extending in the southeast- 

 ern part of Linn county, and the northeastern part of Johnson 

 county. The birds seemed to cling to their nesting place with 

 remarkable persi.stency, and when robbed of the first set of eggs, 

 would lay another in the immediate vicinity. Dr. Bailey states 

 that the Duck Hawks nested there until 1898. May i, 1897, 

 four fresh eggs were taken. 



In 1898, the last set of eggs was taken from this pair of birds, 

 six fresh eggs, on April 6, at the old nesting site at the Upper 

 Palisades, in the upper cliff. A .second set was laid some dis- 

 tance below and on the opposite side of the river, and the 5^oung 

 were allowed to hatch, but were killed before reaching maturity. 

 Since then none of this species have been seen in the vicinity of 

 the Palisades. Dr. Bailey describes a series of thirty-three eggs 

 taken in this locality; two sets of six, one of five, and four of 

 four each, varying from almost unmarked specimens to eggs 

 which show almost no trace of the ground color and whose spots 

 are in places almost black. In no case where a second set was 

 laid did the number exceed three. 



County records: Blackhawk — " rare migrant " (Walters) ; " a 

 regular but infrequent migrant in Blackhawk county, where it 

 once bred sparingly, on one occasion occupying a deserted nest of 

 the Bald Eagle" (Peck). Des Moines — Mus. No. 16159, male, 

 Burlington, Sept. 8, 1894, Paul Bartsch. Jackson — " tolerable- 

 common migrant" (Giddings). Lee — "scarce migrant" (Prae- 

 ger); "migrant, not common" (Currier). Linn — " formed}' 

 bred on cliffs along the Cedar River ' ' (Keyes) . Winnebago — 

 " migrant at Forest City ; at Coon Grove, in 1903, watched one 

 catch a duck in the air and then eat it " (Halvorsen). 



Subgenus Tinnunculus Vieillot. 

 156. (357)- Falco cohinibarii/s lAnn. Pigeon Hawk. 



The Pigeon Hawk is tolerably common during the migrations 

 in Iowa and has very rarely been known to nest in the state. 

 Major Bendire, in his "Life Histories of North American Birds" 

 (p. 299), says: "Mr. Lynds Jones writes me that he found a nest 

 of this species near Grinnell, Iowa, on April 28, containing four 

 eggs. They were placed in a hole in an American Linden tree, 

 about eight feet from the ground. The nest was made of dry 



