FALCON ID.K — Tin: I'AIX'oNS. 141 



[iroys iiiinii till! Wild Pigeon, and ii])on sniallor birds. In one instance 

 Audulion lias Und vn one lo lollow a tauii' I'ij^con tu its liousu, entor- 

 inji it at one liole and instantly Hying <nit at the other. The same writer 

 states that he has seen this bird feeding on dead lish that had floated to 

 the banks of tlie Mississi])]ii. Oi'uasionally it alights on the dead branch 

 of a tree in the neighburiiood of marshy ground, and watches, apparenlly 

 surveying, piece by piece, every portiiui of tlu; territory. As .soon as it 

 ])erceives a suitable victim, it darts upon it like an arrow. Wiiile feeding, 

 it is said to be very cleanly, tearing the ilesh, after removing the featiiers, 

 into small jiieces, and swallowing them one by one. 



The l''.uroi)ean species, as is well known, was once lai'gely trained for the 

 chase, and even to this day is occasionally used for this puri)ose; its docility 

 in conliuenient, and its won<lerl'nl |)oW(!rs of tligiit, rendering it an edicient 

 assistant to the liuntsnian. We have no reason to doubt that our own bird 

 might Ijc made e(pially serviceable. 



Kxceptiiij- during the breeding-season, it is a solitary bird. It mates 

 early in Fel)r>iary, and even earlier in the winter. Early in the fall tiie 

 families separate, and each bird seems to keep to itself until the period of 

 I'eju'uduction returns. 



In conlinenient, birds of this family become qnite tame, can bo trained to 

 lial)its of wonderlul docility and oluidience, and evince even an all'ectiou for 

 the one who cares for their want.s. 



This species appears to nest almost exclusively on cliffs, and rarely, if ever, 

 to make any nests in other situations. In a few rare and exceptional ca.ses 

 this Falcon has l)eeii known to constnii t a nu.st in trei's. Mr. Ord speaks 

 of its thus nesting among the cedar swamps of Xew Jersey ; but this fact 

 has l)een discredited, and theic has been no recent evidence of its thus breed- 

 ing in that State. Mr. Dall found its nest in a tree in Alaska, but makes no 

 mention of its peculiarities. 



The eggs of this species are of a rounded-oval .shape, and range from 2.00 

 to 2.22 inches in length, and from l.(i() to I.'.K) in width. Five eggs, from 

 Anderson l.'iver, have an average size of 2.00 by 1.(1.") inches. An egg from 

 .Mount Tom, Mass., is larger than any other I have seen, measuring 2.22 

 inches in length iiy i.Tlt in breadth, and diifers in the brighter coloring and 

 a larger projwrtion of red in its markings. The gnamd is a deej) cream- 

 color, but is rarely visible, being generally so entirely overlaid by markings 

 as nowhere to appear. In many the ground-color ai)pears to have a reddish 

 tinge, proliably due to the brown markings which so nearly conceal it. Iii 

 others, nothing appears but a deep coating of dark ferruginou ^r chocolate- 

 brown, not honiogtjueons, but of varying deiith of coloring, and here and 

 there deeitening into almost blackness. In one egg, from Anderson Kiver, 

 the cream-colored ground is very apparent, and only sjjaringly marked with 

 blotches of a light brown, with a shading of lironze. An egg from the cab- 

 inet of ^Ir. Dickinson, of Springlield, taken on Mount Tom, Ma.ssachusett3, 



