BIRDS OF PREY 



(356a) Faico peregrinus ana= 

 turn Bonap. 



(Lat., wandering; a rliick). 



DUCK HAWK; PEREGRINE 

 FALCON; GREAT- FOOTED 

 HAWK. Feet large and powerful, 

 the toes being of unusual length. 

 Only first outer primary notched. 

 Upper mandible strongly hooked; 

 lower deeply notched. Ads. — Plum- 

 age as shown, bluish-slate alx)ve and 

 white, tinged with bufly below; con- 

 spicuous black moustache marks; 

 numerous streaks and crossbars be- 

 low. Im. — Mixed with brownish 

 above; lower markings all length- 

 wise. L.. ig.oo; Ex., 45.00; W., 

 14.00; T., 7.00; Tar., 2.00. 



Range — Whole of North and South 

 America, breeding locally throughout 

 the range. 



alternated with sailings. If a lark or other bird of appropri- 

 ate size rises before them, they spring forward as though shot 

 from a gun, with a speed that is amazing, and strike their 

 quarry almost before it has time to get into full flight. If 

 a prairie dog, gopher, or squirrel is so incautious as not to 

 observe their approach, or happens to be a few feet from 

 the entrance to the burrow, its fate is sealed. Birds up 

 to the size of pigeons and the smaller rodents form their 

 usual food; but they have the strength, if not the inclination, 

 to kill and carry away much larger game. 



Their nests are almost invariably on the ledges of cliffs 

 or in cavities of perpendicular bluffs, usually in places 

 difficult to get at. The eggs are creamy-white, very finely 

 specked over the whole surface with reddish-brown. 



DUCK HAWKS are found, where suitable conditions 

 occur, throughout North and South America. This is but 

 a very similar sub-species of the famous Peregrine Falcons, 

 which were almost as extensivelj' used in England for 

 "falconry" as were the more powerful Gyrfalcons. They 



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