The Peregrine Falcon 



No. 320 



Peregrine Falcon 



A. O. U. No. 356. Falco peregrinus anatum (Bonaparte). 



Synonyms. — American Peregrine Falcon. Great-footed Falcon. Duck 

 Hawk. 



Description. — Adult: Above dark bluish ash, or slaty black with a glaucous 

 "bloom," the feathers lighter edged, and the larger ones obscurely barred; top of head 

 appreciably darker, — almost black; wings long, and pointed by the second quill, the 

 first notched about two inches from the end; primaries distinctly barred on the inner 

 webs with ochraceous; tail and upper tail-coverts narrowly barred with ashy-gray and 

 blackish, whitish-tipped; area below eye, produced downward as broad "moustache," 

 sooty black; throat and chest buffy white or pale ochraceous, immaculate or nearly so; 

 remaining underparts buffy white or ochraceous buffy, everywhere heavily spotted, on 

 breast with blackish crescentic marks, posteriorly lengthening into braces and bars; 

 tarsus feathered two-fifths of the way down; toes and claws lengthened. Bill blue- 

 black, but with cere and much of base yellow; feet yellow; claws black. Immature: 

 Above sooty brown, plain or with some glaucous bloom with advancing age; feathers 

 not barred, but more broadly and distinctly edged with ochraceous buff; top of head 

 lighter than back by reason of ochraceous and whitish admixture; bars of tail obsolete 

 on central feathers; below heavily striped with sooty brown, or if barred, only on 

 flanks; chest never immaculate, — narrowly streaked with sooty brown; prevailing 

 color of underparts deeper buffy or ochraceous than in adults. Adult male, length: 

 393-7-457^ (15-50-18.00); wing 292.1-330.2 (1 1. 50-13. 00) ; tail 152. 4-196.9 (6.00- 

 7.75); culmen 19.6 (.77). Adult female, length: 457.2-533.4 (18.00-21.00); wing 

 342.9-374.7 (13.50-14.75); tail 177.8-235 (7.00-9.25); culmen 24.1 (.95). 



Recognition Marks. — Crow size; dark coloration; black cheeks and "mous- 

 tache"; long pointed wings; swift, easy flight. 



Nesting. — Nest: None; eggs laid on floor of cranny or on ledge of cliff, or 

 rarely in hollow trees or even on ground (with some improvisation of grass or 

 hay). Eggs: Usually 4 or 5, occasionally 3, 6 of record; basally pinkish white but, 

 save in rarest instances, completely overlaid with "rich chocolate" (vinaceous tawny, 

 pecan-brown or liver-brown), mottled with self shades to blackish red. Av. size 52.5 

 x 41 (Bendire). Av. of 19 eggs from Santa Barbara, five sets, the product of a single 

 pair of birds, in the M. C. O. coll.: 53.7 x 43 (2. 11 x 1.69); index 80. Season: 

 March 10-April 10: one brood. 



Range of Falco peregrinus. — Major portion of Northern Hemisphere, wandering 

 south in winter through Africa and South America. 



Distribution in California. — Fairly common resident, chiefly coastwise and on 

 the Santa Barbara Islands. Breeds on the sea-fronting cliffs and on the heights of 

 adjacent ranges; also interiorly (Escondido, Lakeside, San Onofre, Western Kern 

 County, etc.). Numbers considerably augmented in winter. 



Authorities. — Gambel (Falco anatum), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. iii., 

 1846, p. 46 (upper California; nesting along coast) ; Fisher, Hawks and Owls of the U. S., 

 1893, p. 106, pi. 15 (food); Tyler, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 9, 1913, p. 44 (San Joaquin 

 Valley; habits); Howell, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 12, 1917, p. 56 (s. Calif, ids.; nesting 

 habits, food, etc.); Oberholser, Auk, vol. xxxv., 1918, p. 207 (nomencl.). 



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