AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 87 



PIGEON HAWK. 



A. O. U. No. 357. (Falco Columtaarius.) 



The whole of North America. Breeds chiefly north of the United 

 States and is found in the latter, except in the northern parts, only dur- 

 ing the winter migrations. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, from 11 to 12 in.; extent, 24 to 26 in.; tail, about 5.5 in. The 

 larger of these dimensions applies to the female, which is quite a little 

 larger than the male bird. Eye, brown. Feet, yellow. Cere and base 

 of the bill, yellow, the remainder being blue-black. 



Male. — Entire upper parts a bluish gray, each feather on the back and 

 coverts, having a black shaft line. The primaries are black, with light- 

 er tips. The tail is like the back in color and is crossed by three black 

 bands and tipped with one of white. The under parts are whitish, 

 streaked longitudinally with dark brown, these streaks being bold on 

 the breast and sides, while on the throat they are narrow pencil lines. 

 A superciliary stripe of gray shows prominently above the eye. 



Female. — Young, and male in autumn plumage. The back and tail 

 are dark brown instead of the blue-gray color, and the tail is crossed by 

 three bands of dull yellowish white and tipped with band of white. 



Otherwise they are similar to the spring plumage of the male, except 

 that young birds are apt to have far less numerous markings on the 

 breast and throat. The bird shown in the illustration is an adult male 

 in the fall dress. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



This Hawk- shows little partiality in the choice of a nesting site. It 

 may be placed in the crevices of a cliff, in hollow limbs of trees, or on 

 the branches. :^The eggs are laid during May and are generally three or 

 four in number. -.- The ground color varies from a creamy to a cinnamon 

 color 'and they are heavily blotched with various shades of brown. 



