298 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



several occasions on Attn Island during' 1880 and 1881. It breeds on nearly- 

 all the islands of the chain and is a winter resident on the nearer group, 

 at least. On Agattu it is reported to be very common, and on Amchitka I 

 knew of three nests on the ledg'es of the high bluffs hanging over the sea. 

 Any approach to the cliffs was heralded by the bird darting from the nest 

 and circling' high in the air, screaming fiercely all the while, and any attempt 

 to shoot the birds while flying over the water would have resulted in the 

 loss of the specimen, for they always flew in front of the cliffs out of range. 



"At Attu Island I frequently saw one of these birds join the Ravens 

 when the latter were performing their aerial gymnastics on the approach of a 

 gale. The Hawk endeavored to imitate the Ravens, which paid but little 

 attention to the antics of the intruder. At Attu this Hawk is not common, 

 though the natives assert that it is common enough at Agattu and the 

 Semichi Islands, and they told me that where this Hawk breeds there will 

 also be found the nests of the Eiders. I could not believe this until a short 

 stay at Amicha Island forced me to recognize it as a fact; for in each instance 

 the Eiders were very abundant in every locality where the nest of this 

 Hawk was known to be. It , is quite probable that the Hawk selects the 

 place with special reference to prospective young Eiders."^ 



Nothing is as yet known about the eggs of Peale's Falcon, but they are 

 doubtless indistinguishable, both in size and color, from those of the preceding 

 subspecies. It appears to nest in localities similar to those of the latter when 

 breeding on the seacoast. 



100. Falco columbarius Linnaeus. 



PIGEON HAWK. 



Falco columbarius Linnaeus, Systema Naturge, ed. 10, i, 1758, 90. 

 (B 7, C 344, R 417, C 505, U 357.) 



GiToGRAPHiCAL RANGE : The whole of North America ; south in winter to the 

 West Indies, middle Amex'ica, and northern South America. 



Although the well known Pigeon Hawk is pretty generally distributed 

 over the entire United States during the fall and winter seasons, by far the 

 greater number breed north of our border, and comparatively few remain 

 as summer residents, at least east of the Mississippi River, and those 

 that do, generally confine themselves to the mountain districts and to the 

 thinly settled and heavily wooded regions along our Northern States. In 

 the Rocky Mountains, as well as in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges, 

 and their spurs, the Pigeon Hawk is probably quite a common summer resi- 

 dent, but as yet its nest and eggs have been rarely taken, and even where 

 they have been found, there remains more or less doubt as to their proper 

 identification, as the two closely allied forms, Falco columbarius sucMeyi and 



' Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska, 1886, p. 160. 



