52 tJ. S. NATIONAL MTJSBUM BULLETIN 217 



Falco columbarius bendirei Swann 



Imale 



Aug. 12, 1950 



weight 169 g. 



2 females 



June 16. 1952 

 Aug. 25, 1950 



weight 142, 231 g. 



The male western pigeon hawk had been seen on two days flying 

 South directly through the willows covering the sand dunes on the 

 south side of Odrivik Lake. On the last trip, its direction was fol- 

 lowed for about a half mile nearly to the bank of the Killik Eiver, and 

 as it returned flying northward through a narrow marshy hollow be- 

 tween two willow covered dune ridges, it was shot. Its behavior so 

 well suggested that a nest or perch was in the vicinity that a careful 

 search was made in the area from which it had last appeared, but no 

 sign of nest or perch could be found. The conviction that a residence 

 site was near, led me to further observation of the area from the top 

 of a dune a little distant. On the next day a dark bird of the same 

 size left the area and flew swiftly across the Killik River and dis- 

 appeared in a small patch of willows. The day was then dull and 

 identification of this bird could not be established in the poor light 

 and prolonged observation gave no other information. I think it 

 likely that the bird collected was a resident and not a migrant. On 

 two successive days in early June 1952, I saw a pigeon hawk fly 

 through the willows on Contact Creek. A female collected there on 

 June 16 had already laid eggs. 



A pair was watched by Simon for several hours near the site of 

 the gyrf alcons' perch on Soakpuk Mountain. The small hawks were 

 screaming in agitation at the gyrf alcons and probably at the human 

 intruders, but after watching for over an hour, he could find no nest 

 of either hawk. One of the pair of pigeon hawks was collected. 



One female specimen was collected at Tuluak Lake on August 25. 

 That region had been under close observation through the summer, 

 and as no pigeon hawks had been reported, it is believed that this 

 example, recorded as having ample subcutaneous fat, was a returning 

 migrant. Another pigeon hawk was reported seen September 8, 1950, 

 near Contact Creek, and Simon Paneak and William Irving reported 

 one seen July 6, 1951, in the Killik Valley among the mountains. 



In August 1951, several pigeon hawks were seen along the Koyukuk 

 and Alatna Eivers. A resident Indian, William Williams, said that 

 they regularly nested at certain locations along the river. One was 

 collected at the mouth of the Iniakuk River, at the southern mountain 

 line and about 70 miles southwest of Tuluak Lake. In mid-March 

 1951, Ernie Johnson pointed out a small hawk which had offended him 

 by harrying his tame jays and pursuing small birds about his cabin 

 near the northern limit of spruce on the Alatna Malemute. John 



