FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC. 193 



FAmLY Falconid^. Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. 



The three hundred and fifty species included in this family are 

 distributed throughout the world. One tenth of the number are found 

 in North America. During the migratory seasons they may some- 

 times be seen traveling in scattered flocks, which may take hours to 

 pass a given point. At other times of the year, with few exceptions, 

 they are solitary birds, having no intercourse with their kind. During 

 the breeding season many species have definitely bounded haunts, upon 

 which intrusion by individuals of the same species is not permitted. 

 With much regularity they return to the same locality and even the 

 same nest year after year, and some species are known to mate for life. 

 Their days are an unceasing vigil. At all times they are on the alert 

 for food. This consists to a large extent of small mammals and in- 

 sects, birds and poultry forming a comparatively insignificant part of 

 the diet of most species. Hawks are thus of great value to the agri- 

 culturist as the natural check upon the increase of the myriads of 

 small rodents so destructive to crops. 



The cries of Hawks are generally loud, startling, and characteristic 

 of their fierce natures. They strike their prey with their feet, and use 

 the bill to tear it into fragments. 



Hawks' nests are generally bulky affairs, composed of coarse twigs 

 and sticks. The presence of downy feathers gives evidence that they 

 are or have been recently occupied. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



I. Wing over 19-00. 



A. Upper half of tarsus feathered. 



a. Whole head and neck white 352. Bald Eagle (Ad.). 



b. Head and neck brown or brownish. 



b^. Bill mostly yellow (Greenland) . . 351. Gray Sea Eagle (Ad.). 

 b^. Bill black or blackish 352. Bald Eagle (Im.). 



B. Whole tarsus feathered 349. Golden Eagle. 



II. Wing under 19-00. 



1. Feathers of under parts more or less streaked and 

 spotted, without cross-bars. 



A. Outer primary with numerous black or blackish bars. 

 a. Wing under 10*00. 

 a^. Back bright rufous, with or without black bars. 



360. Am. Sparrow Hawk. 



a^. Back bluish slate-color 357. Pigeon Hawk (Ad.). 



a8. Back fuscous, second primary longest. 



857. Pigeon Hawk (Im.). 

 a*. Back fuscous, fourth primary longest, tail-feathers of nearly equal 



length ; wing under 900 332. Sharp-shinned Hawk. 



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