7 ( .Mi KllI'OKT OK STATK (J KOI, GUI ST. 



Subgenus ^ESALON Kaup. 



142. (857). Falco columbarius LINN. 



Pigeon Hawk. 



Middle tail feathers, crossed by not more than four blackish or five 

 light bands. Above, bluish gray or brownish; below, whitish, buffy, 

 or light rusty; streaked with brownish or dusky. The Black Merlin 

 is much darker. Above, plain brown; below, heavily marked with 

 dusky. 



Length, 10.00-13.25; wing, 7.40-8.60; tail, 4.65-5.50. (Fisher.) 



RANGE. America, from Ecuador to Arctic Ocean. Breeds from 

 Maine to Iowa and California, northward. Winters from New York, 

 Pennsylvania a,nd Indiana, southward. 



Nest, in trees, sometimes in cavities and on cliffs. Eggs, 4-5; pale 

 creamy- white, often overspread by red-brown, and spotted and 

 blotched with darker brown; 1.65 by 1.20. 



Regular migrant, and irregular winter resident, not common. It 

 is not improbable that it may rarely nest in the northern part of the 

 State. 



It is most often seen in September and October, March and April. 

 In the Whitewater Valley, from which it was reported by Dr. Hay- 

 mond (Ind. Geol. Rept. 1869, p. 209), it is now rarely seen. A speci- 

 men was taken near Valley Junction, 0., in September, 1885, and one 

 was taken near Brookville, Ind., October 20, 1880. A specimen was 

 taken in Monroe County March 12, 1887 (Blatchley), and another 

 was noted April 8, 1886, by Evermann, who also reports it from Car- 

 roll County. In Lake County Mr. H. K. Coale shot one September 

 25, 1875, and Mr. Aiken saw it at Water Valley. It has been noted 

 elsewhere as follows: Dekalb County, two, in October (Mrs. Hine); 

 Elkhart County, February 6, 1891 (H. W. McBride); Allen County 

 (Stockbridge); Putnam County (Clearwaters) : Boone County, one in 

 collection of State Museum (Beasley); Laporte County (Byrkit). It 

 builds nests on limbs of trees, in hollows of them, as well as in cavi- 

 ties or on projections of cliffs. In the southern part of its breed- 

 ing range, it nests in March or April, while in Central Alaska and 

 the Anderson River country, its nests are found in May or June. 

 But one brood is raised in a season. Incubation lasts about three 

 weeks (Bendire). Capt. Dall reports it as resident in Alaska. 



The Pigeon Hawk is a true Falcon. It takes much of its prey upon 

 the wing. This consists chiefly of small birds. Of 56 stomachs exam- 

 ined, 2 contained poultry; 16, insects; 41, small birds; 2, mice; and 5 

 were empty (Bull. No. 3, Div. 0. and M., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 113. 



