The Peregrine Falcon 





Taken in Kern County Photo by the Author 



A CLOSE-UP OF n/4 DUCK HAWK 



SO CLOSE, INDEED, THAT THE NEAREST EGG IS DISTORTED 



which to his knowledge had occupied the same cliff for twenty years, and 

 were rated as "old residents" before his time. In such an instance, how- 

 ever, it must be borne in mind that a desirable nesting site will hold even 

 a widowed bird. A new mate will be secured and this newcomer, if de- 

 prived of its mate in turn, is quite likely to hold the ancient fortress and 

 to bring home another bridegroom. 



The eggs of the Peregrine, four or five in number, are among the 

 handsomest known. A background of pinkish buff is habitually buried 

 in a smudge of vinaceous tawny, upon which spots and blotches of richest 

 chocolate are vaguely outlined. Certain eggs in the collection of Mr. 

 Donald Cohen of Alameda, and Mr. Chase Littlejohn of Redwood City, 

 are best described as red. The circumstances under which the last-named 

 eggs were found are worth special record. A waif barrel, half full of straw 

 packing, was once cast up on the desolate marshes of the San Francisco 

 Bay region at a point several miles east of Redwood City. Here, because 

 of an undisputed territory filled with the California Clapper Rails, wild 



1628 



