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THE GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 



Falco peregrinus, Gmei,. 



PLATE XVI. Adult Male and Female. 



The French and Spaniards of Louisiana have designated all the spe- 

 cies of the genus Falco by the name of " Mangeurs de Poulets ,•" and the 

 farmers in other portions of the Union have bestowed upon them, accord- 

 ing to their size, the appellations of " Hen Hawk," " Chicken Hawk," 

 " Pigeon Hawk," &c. This mode of naming these rapacious birds is 

 doubtless natural enough, but it displays Httle knowledge of the charac- 

 teristic manners of the species. No bird can better illustrate the frequent 

 inaccuracy of the names bestowed by ignorant persons than the present, 

 of which on referring to the plate, you will see a pair enjoying themselves 

 over a brace of ducks of different species. Very hkely, were tame ducks 

 as plentiful on the plantations in our States, as wild ducks are on our 

 rivers, lakes and estuaries, these hawks might have been named by some 

 of our settlers " Mangeurs de Canards.'''' 



Look at these two pirates eating their dejeune a la Jhurchette, as it 

 were, congratulating each other on the savouriness of the food in their 

 grasp. One might think them real epicures, but they are in fact true 

 gluttons. The male has obtained possession of a Green-winged Teal, 

 while his mate has procured a Gadwal Duck. Their appetites are equal 

 to their reckless daring, and they well deserve the name of " Pirates '' 

 which I have above bestowed upon them. 



The Great-footed Hawk, or Peregrine Falcon, is now frequently to be 

 met with in the United States, but within my remembrance it was a very 

 scarce species in America. I can well recollect the time when, if I shot 

 one or two individuals of the species in the course of a whole winter I 

 thought myself a fortunate mortal ; whereas of late years I have shot two 

 in one day, and perhaps a dozen in the course of a ^vinter. It is quite 

 impossible for me to account for this increase in their number, the more 

 so that our plantations have equally increased, and we have now three gun- 

 ners for every one that existed twenty years ago, and all of them ready 

 to destroy a hawk of any kind whenever an occasion presents itself. 



