208 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



common name indicates, is a bird of the plains west of the 

 Mississippi. 



Length, 16-20 ; wing, 12-14J; tail, 6^-9; tarsus, 2 ; culmen, 1. West- 

 em United States from tlie eastern border of tlie Plains to the Pacific ; 



breeding throughout. Casual east to 



Illinois. 



27. Duck Hawk (356. Fdlco pere- 

 grln.us dnatum). — A dark, bluish- 

 slate-colored hawk, with the under 

 parts cream-buff, much spotted 

 with black, except on the breast; 

 tail indistinctly barred with black- 

 ish and tipped with a narrow, white 

 band. The young has the blackish 

 upper parts margined with orange- 

 buffy, and the under side of the 

 tail barred- with the same. This 

 is a beautiful, swift-flying, daring 

 bird generally found near the 

 water, as it feeds mainly on ducks 

 and other water birds. No bird 



can fly swiftly enough to escape its talons. (Peregrine Falcon ; 



Great-footed Hawk.) 



Length, 14-20; wing, 11|-15; tail, 6-9; tarsus, 2; culmen, 1. North 

 America, and south to central South America ; breeding locally over 

 most of its United States 

 range. 



28. Pigeon Hawk 



(357. Fdlco columbd,- 

 rius). — A small, 

 slate-blue hawk, with 

 all the under parts 

 light creamy or 

 brownish, much 

 streaked with dark; 

 tail with three or four broad, lighter-colored bars, and the 



Prairie Falcon 



Snck Hawk 



