DUCK HAWK. 9 



Thomas Monson, no later than the reign of James the Fiist, 

 is said to have given a thousand pounds for a cast of Hawks. 



Next to the Eagle, this bird is the most formidable, active, 

 and intrepid, and was held in the highest esteem for falconry. 

 It boldly attacks the largest of birds ; the Swan, Goose, Stork, 

 Heron, and Crane are to it easy victims. In its native regions 

 it lives much on the hare and Ptarmigan ; upon these it darts 

 with astonishing velocity, and often seizes its prey by pouncing 

 upon it almost perpendicularly. It breeds in the cold and 

 desert regions where it usually dwells, fixing its nests amidst 

 the most lofty and inaccessible rocks. 



Nuttall treated the four forms as one, while I follow the A. O. U. 

 in separating them ; though I do not think that the present classifi- 

 cation will be retained. The accessible material is very limited, 

 but it appears to indicate that there is but one species with two, 

 or possibly three, geographical races. The nests and eggs and 

 the habits are similar, the difference being entirely that of plu- 

 mage, — the prevalence of the dark or white color. 



The White breeds chiefly in North Greenland and along the bor- 

 ders of the Arctic Ocean ; the Gray breeds in South Greenland ; the 

 Black is restricted to Labrador ; and the habitat of gyrfalco is given 

 as " interior of Arctic America from Hudson's Bay to Alaska." 

 Specimens of all four have been taken south of latitude 45°, and 

 a few of the Black have been taken, in winter, as far south as 

 southern New England and New York. 



Note. — A few examples of the Prairie Falcon (Falco mexi- 

 canus) have accidentally wandered to the prairie districts of 

 lUinois. 



DUCK HAWK. 



peregrine falcon. great-footed hawk. 



Falco peregrinus anatum. 



Char. Above, bluish ash or brownish black, the edges of the feathers 

 paler ; below, ashy or dull tawny, with bars or streaks of brownish ; a 

 black patch on the cheeks. Bill of bluish color, and toothed and notched, 

 as in all true Falcons; cere yellow. Wing long, thin, and pointed. 

 Length 17 to 19 inches. 



