aE, PEALE PALCON. 531 
For a nesting site this Falcon chooses a commanding cliff, and preferably 
one which lays a considerable territory of water under tribute. A pair whicl 
has taken up its abode upon the picturesque bastions of \Waldron Head appears 
to lack nothing. ‘The hill itself boasts Gulls, Meadowlarks, and Mountain 
Quail; while the neighboring colonies on Flattop and Gull Island offer quite < 
range of delicacies. Once, when we happened to be on Flattop, the morning 
marketing of the Waldron Peregrine stirred up quite a commotion among the 
sea fowl. A constant outcry attended his movements, and the Gulls pursuec 
him valiantly. Amusing to relate, a pair of Fish Crows, eager, no doubt, to 
obtain a pretext for distracting attention from their own odious persons, were 
leading in the chase, crying, “Stop thief!” in a most virtuous key. Faugh! 
Their own gullets were crammed with Cormorant eggs at the very moment 
Nos 214: 
PEALE’S FALCON: 
A. O. U. No. 356a. Falco peregrinus pealei Ridgway. 
Description.—Adults: Similar to F. p. anatum, but darker; above slaty 
black; no contrast between pileum and back; anteriorly the feathers are lightly 
tipped with ochraceous, posteriorly with lighter ochraceous or gray; underparts 
very heavily marked with sooty black (or black with a tinge of red and a sub- 
dued glaucous bloom) on ochraceous ground,—the marking is chiefly longitudinal 
and becomes barring only on crissum and under tail-coverts. Young birds lack 
the rusty feather-tips of adult and are often so dark below as more properly to 
be defined as sooty black, streaked with pale ochraceous. Length as in preceding 
form. 
Recognition Marks.—Crow size; dark coloration; no contrast in shade 
between pileum and back. 
Nesting.—Much as in preceding; chiefly confined to sea-cliffs. 
General Range.—Pacific Coast region from Oregon to the Aleutian and 
Commander Islands, breeding thruout its range. 
Range in Washington.—Imperfectly defined as regarding preceding form— 
at least western coast and probably northern coast of Olympic peninsula. 
Authorities—Falco iigriceps, Cassin, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX., 1858, p. 8 
(part). C&S. Rh. 
Specimens.—Provy. 
IT would be impossible to, adjudicate the boundaries between F. p. anatum 
and F. p. pealei without killing every falcon in western Washington; and this, 
however much we should earn the gratitude of the water fowl, we do not feel 
prepared to do. Suffice it to say, that pealci is, on theory, a saturated form, 
