Nesting Time, 



chiefly upon ground-squirrels and the 

 larger insects, and well merits protection 

 instead of the persecution to which he is 

 subjected. His call-note during the 

 breeding season is a loud, emphatic 

 pee' eeey uttered upon the wing and 

 frequently accented by a great, down- 

 ward swoop. The nest is built chiefly 

 of sticks placed in the rain-washed holes 

 or scoops in the faces of rocky cliffs, or 

 in the top of a live-oak or occasionally 

 of a pine tree. The eggs are pale buff 

 in color, generally rather faintly spotted 

 with brown. 



The prairie-falcon, a medium-sized, 

 swift-flying hawk, dull brown above and 

 white below, spotted and barred with 

 brown, nested, in former years, about 

 Berkeley, but I have never observed its 

 nesting habits ^myself except in the 

 vicinity of Mount Diablo. Its note is 

 a loud, plaintiff call which may be rep- 

 resented by the syllables ka-wie'-e, ka- 

 wie'-e, ka-wie'-e. This was sometimes 

 varied to ke'-ie^ ke'-ie^ ke'-ie, with the 

 204 



