BIRDS OF PREY 145 



355. PRAIRIE FALCON. — Falco mexicanus. 



Family : The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. 



Length: Male 17.00-18.00 ; female 18.50-20.00. 



Adult Male : Upper parts light yellow-brown ; indistinctly barred with 



buffy on the head and neck, and with slate-color on lower back and 



tail ; sides of the head with dark patches ; under parts and nuchal 



collar white ; belly lightly streaked or spotted with dusky, and 



flanks heavily spotted with same. 

 Adult Female: Upper parts same as male, but duller; palest toward 



the tail ; tail tipped with white on the outer edges of the feathers. 

 Young: Upper parts -grayish brown: under parts grayish buff with 



broad dusky streaks. 

 Geographical Distribution : Western United States from the plains to 



the Pacific. 

 Breeding Range : Throughout the United States. 

 Breeding Season : May. 

 Nest: Of sticks, with a lining of grasses ; usually on cliffs, sometimes in 



cavities in trees, always in inaccessible places. 

 Eggs: 2 to 5 ; deep cream-buff, covered with fine specks of cinnamon, 



rufous, and light chestnut. Size 2.10 X 1-64. 



Although not a large hawk and apparently built for 

 swift flight rather than for strength, the trim Prairie Fal- 

 con has the courage of an eagle and does not hesitate to 

 attack prey of twice its own weight. Poultry it seizes 

 only when other food is scarce, but a good-sized jack- 

 rabbit is often a victim, and is carried to the nearest low 

 perch to be devoured ; — this by a bird the size of the 

 American crow, but with sinews of steel and a heart that 

 absolutely knows no fear. With an audacity worthy of 

 a better cause it pursues marsh hawks, compelling them 

 to relinquish the fish they have caught ; and not even 

 the bald eagle can strike such terror to a flock of grouse. 

 Their eyrie is a crevice or ledge on the perpendicular 

 face of a cliff" where none but the most daring can 



10 



