The Peregrine Falcon 



poultry from sheer mischief without intention of harm. Certainly the 

 Peregrine need not deny himself any luxury which his appetite craves, 

 and young meteors would be quite in his line if they were only a little 

 more juicy. 



The Peregrines are fairly common about the Santa Barbara Islands, 

 where they subsist largely upon sea-birds. There is a scattering popula- 

 tion, also, along the rugged sea-cliffs and outlying islets of the western 

 coast. Most of the mainland birds, however, even of those which lay the 

 coast under daily tribute, find more congenial nesting sites on the cliffs 



Taken in Kern County 



Photo by [he Author 



A NESTING LEDGE OF THE PEREGRINE FALCON 



of the coastal ranges, at a distance of from five to twenty miles back from 

 the seashore. And because water-fowl rather than sea-fowl are Peregrine's 

 specialty, a few pairs nest along the east exposure of the innermost coast 

 range, where they may review the tenants of Buena Vista and Tulare 

 lakes, as well as the flooded lowlands of the lower San Joaquin. Tyler 1 

 gives several interesting anecdotes of this bird's occurrence in the Fresno 

 section; among them the following: "The flight of the Duck Hawk is so 



1 Pacific Coast Avifauna, No. 9, Some Birds of the Fresno District, by John G. Tyler (1013), p. 45, 



l626 



