Grayson.] 268 [June 7, 



None of the Vulturidce is so well known throughout Mexico and the 

 United States as the Turkey Buzzard. 



" I did not see this bird upon the Island of Socorro. Perhaps the 

 Islands of ' The Tres Marias ' form its extreme western range." 



FALCOKDD^:. 



2. Polyborus audubonii Cass. " Caracara Eagle ; Quelele." 

 . " The Caracara Eagle, or hawk vulture, possesses the qualitis of 



both the hawks and the vultures, and it is rather difficult to decide 

 by its habits and manners to which it more closely approximates. In 

 general appearance it resembles the hawk, and although it subsists 

 mainly on dead animals and other offal, it does sometimes capture 

 young birds, lizards, snakes and land crabs. It generally carries its 

 prey in its beak, but I have also seen it bearing off its food, as the 

 hawks do, in the claw. 



" It walks with facility on the ground, and I have often met with 

 it in the thick woods, walking about in search of snakes and lizards. 

 It is very docile, frequenting the vicinity of towns and ranches, and 

 sometime seen in company with the Black Vulture (Caihartes 

 atratus). 



"The Caracara Eagle is quite abundant in the Tres Marias, which is 

 perhaps its greatest western range." 



3. Buteo borealis var. montana Nutt. "Western Red-tailed 

 Hawk; Gavilan." 



" The Western Red-tailed Hawk is quite abundant on the Islands, 

 where it subsists almost entirely upon the Iguana lizard and rabbits, 

 which are very numerous. I also found it in the far western Island 

 of Socorro, situated in lat. 18° 35', long. 111°, where I saw a pair 

 nesting. This must be the most western boundary of its range. It 

 is a common species in all parts of Western Mexico, and northward 

 to the Rocky Mountains." 



4. Pandion carolinensis (Gm.). "The Fish Hawk; Aquila 

 pescadoro." 



" I saw several individuals of this species on the Islands, a pair of 

 which were nesting. This nest was placed upon the top of the large 

 thorny limbs of the giant cactus." 



5. Faleo peregrinus var. nigriceps Cass. "The Western or 

 Lesser Duck Hawk ; Gavilan." 



"I procured one specimen of this elegant species while upon the 

 Island, which I sent to the Smithsonian Institution. When I shot it, 



