FALCONS : Family Falconidae [ 2.03 ] 



TOWNSEND (1839) first listed the Duck Hawk from our territory, and 

 Bendire (1877) listed it as rare in Harney Valley, though he took a set 

 of three eggs from a basaltic cliff near Malheur Lake on April 2.4, 1877 

 (Bendire 1891). Merrill (1888) reported it as common at Fort Klamath, 

 and Anthony (Woodcock 1902.) stated that a few were seen in Portland 

 and vicinity. 



We consider it a comparatively rare bird in Oregon, where it is usually 

 to be found following the migrating waterfowl or near wintering flocks 

 of the same birds. We have noted it in Klamath, Lake, Harney, Malheur, 

 Crook, Douglas (Diamond Lake), Lincoln, Multnomah, and Curry Coun- 

 ties and have known of one pair nesting in Lake County since 19x0. 

 Curiously enough this nesting pair, the only one known definitely to us 

 in recent years, is on an isolated rock far from water, where Mourning 

 Doves, meadowlarks, Sage Thrashers, and similar birds usually preyed 

 upon by the Prairie Falcons must of necessity furnish their food supply. 



The Duck Hawk, like the Prairie Falcon, has remarkable powers of 

 flight. Flying with steady, apparently easy wing beats, it is yet able to 

 overtake the swiftest waterfowl. Gabrielson (192.2.) saw one overtake a 

 flock of teal in full flight and strike one down. The Duck Hawk was 

 traveling much faster than the teal, whose frantic wing beats made a 

 haze beside their bodies, and yet the hawk gave the very definite impres- 

 sion that he had unused speed in reserve. 



Peale's Falcon: 



Falco peregrmus peali Ridgway 



DESCRIPTION.- "Adults: Like F. p. anatum, but head and upper parts uniform dark slate 

 blue; barred on back of wings and tail; chest marked with tear-shaped blackish 

 spots, and rest of under parts broadly barred with blackish. Young: under parts 

 sooty black, streaked with buffy or buffy white; upper parts with only faint traces 

 of rusty feather margins. Male: wing 12-95, ta ^ 6.75, bill .84. Female: wing 

 14.66, tail 7.84, bill .96." (Bailey) Nest and eggs: Same as those of F. p. anatum. 

 DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds on Aleutian, Commander, and possibly Queen Char- 

 lotte Islands. Winters south to Oregon. In Oregon: Regular winter resident of 

 coast. Usually appears in late August and remains until March. 



PEALE'S FALCON, or Black Duck Hawk, is strictly a bird of the coast in 

 Oregon, the only inland record being one of a bird found dead in Portland 

 on October 2.5, 192.7 (Gabrielson Coll.). It is a regular winter resident 

 that ordinarily begins to appear in late August and remains until March 

 (earliest date, July 5, Tillamook County; latest, May 3, Clatsop County). 

 It is most abundant from September to January. Our earliest specimen is 

 from Waldport, Lincoln County, August 31, 192.3 (Gabrielson Coll.), and 

 our latest spring record is the one taken May 3, 1931, at Seaside, Clatsop 

 County. 



Little has been written about this species as an Oregon bird. Gurney 



