102 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



general build and flight of a falcon {see family Falconidae and remarks 

 upon the identification of hawks), second, from the Sparrow hawk by its 

 heavier build and bluish or dusky back, and from the Duck hawk by its 

 inferior size. 



Distribution. The Pigeon hawk. Bullet hawk, or Little blue corporal 

 is a fairly common migrant through New York State, arriving in spring from 

 the 1st to the 15th of April and passing northward from the I4,th to the 

 29th of May. Occasionally it remains through the winter, as reported from 

 Long Island and other parts of southern New York. I saw a falcon of 

 this species chasing the pigeons from a belfry in Canandaigua in January 

 1906. The fall migration takes place principally between September 4 

 to 15 and October 15 to November 5, but fall records as early as August 

 10 are not rare. This species undoubtedly breeds within the boundaries 

 of the State, but the evidence is inconclusive. Mr B. S. Bowdish saw a 

 female and her eggs which were taken in 1891 at Phelps, and Mr Short 

 (Birds of Western N. Y., p. 11) reports it as breeding at Naples, on the 

 authority of L. V. Case. Mr Bowdish has told me that he can not remember 

 positively the description of the Phelps bird and her eggs, but thought 

 surely at the time that she was a Pigeon hawk. Mr Gustavus S. Hardy 

 also reports this hawk as breeding at Middleville, N. Y. But still it seems 

 strange that no eggs from New York have found their way into collections. 

 Mr F. T. Pember reports a young bird of this species which was scarcely 

 able to fly, from Indian lake ; and the author saw a Pigeon hawk on Skylight 

 mountain in the Adirondacks in July 1905. It will thus be seen that this 

 species belongs principally in the catalog of transients, although its retir- 

 ing habits during the nesting season may explain in part the scarcity of 

 observations upon it as a summer resident in the Canadian zone of New 

 York. 



The flight of the Pigeon hawk is swift and powerful. It preys almost 

 entirely upon birds and fearlessly attacks flickers, doves and quails, seeming 

 to prefer a quarry of nearly its own size. Hence it is not to be regretted 

 that this intrepid little falcon is not common in the State. It inhabits 



