148 THE PEREGRINE FALCON. 



cliffs along the Susquehanna, near Columbia, Pennsylvania. 

 Afterwards Mr. Allen gave a most satisfactory account of 

 its nesting in Mt. Tom, on the Connecticut, in Massachu- 

 setts. Very recently I obtained from the observations of 

 Professor Charles Linden, of Buffalo, some very interesting 

 notes as to its breeding on the Mississippi, about sixty miles 

 north of Cairo, Illinois. A vertical out-crop of Devonian 

 strata, some 200 feet high and about a mile from the river, 

 contained two nests of this species, about a quarter of a 

 mile apart and near its crest. The nests were on a shelv- 

 ing of the rocks, and the limy droppings of the birds could 

 be plainly seen for many feet adown cliff. The birds were 

 almost constantly in sight, and the place afforded an excel- 

 lent study of their habits. It being a little after the middle 

 of April (1869), the wild Ducks were still abundant in the 

 shallow pools of the tall forests between the cliff and the 

 river. The Wood Ducks were there in almost countless 

 numbers. Blue-winged Teal and Widgeon were common, 

 while a few Mallards and Shovellers still lingered. Here 

 the Duck Hawk, perched on a tall, leafless tree well up the 

 mountain side, kept watch for his quarry, many a time 

 swooping with the swiftness of an arrow and with the 

 most unerring aim at some choice individual of the crowd. 

 Thus he deserves to be compared to "a feathered arrow 

 traversing the air with a rapidity of thought, a living and 

 winged instrument of death !" 



Sometimes a passing Pigeon lured him, or a Wilson's 

 Snipe, of which there were plenty here at this time. 



Generally the Duck Hawk contrives little or nothing for 

 a nest, laying its eggs almost on the bare rock or clay; and 

 thus the female sits closely, scrambling to the edge of the 

 precipice, and launching into the dizzy ravine beneath only 

 when closely crowded by the hunter. It has been related 



