FALCONS AND CARACARAS: PRAIRIE FALCON 187 
bird was off with its quarry, the snake still squirming and twisting about 
in its talons (1892, p. 317). 
Additional Literature.—Schultze, A.E., Condor, VI, 106-108, 1904 (nesting). 
FALCONS: Subfamily Falconinae 
“The Falcons were known to the old falconers as the Noble or Long¬ 
winged Hawks, and, on account of their great spirit, strength, and 
address, were the chosen birds for use in hunting. Their long wings give 
them great speed and their endurance permits them to maintain it. 
They are bold and strong and capture their prey by sudden swoops 
when possible, but, unlike the Accipiters, are not discouraged when their 
stroke misses. 1 hey first rise above their prey by means of a long spiral 
climb. Once above, they drop like a bullet, striking with their powerful 
talons as they do so. The flight of the Falcons is quite recognizable— 
pointed wings and quick strokes with very little sailing. Seen in the 
hand, the upper mandible furnished with a tooth will always separate 
the Falcons from other Hawks” (Taverner). 
PRAIRIE FALCON: Falco mexicanus Schlegel 
Plates 9 and 16 
Description. Male: Length about 17-18 inches, wing 11.6-12.5, tail 6. 4-7.5, bill 
.7, tarsus 1.8-2.1. Female: Length about 18.5-20 inches, wing 13.2-14.3, tail 8-9, 
bill .S-.9, tarsus 2-2.4. Bill toothed; wing with only one quill cut out. Adults: 
Upper parts pale clay brown , feathers with paler borders; tail tipped with white and 
more or less distinctly barred; wing quills ashy brown, marked with white; axillars 
dark brown, wing linings white, spotted; underparts white , streaked , except on throat; 
bill bluish horn-color, base and much of under mandible, yellow; feet yellow. Young: 
Upperparts grayish brown, feathers edged with rusty; underparts buffy, with broader 
streaks; feet plumbeous. 
Comparisons. Of the six Falcons recorded from New Mexico, the three small 
ones the reddish brown and blue Western Sparrow Hawk and the two forms of 
bluish Pigeon Hawk ( columbarius and richardsoni) —are only 10-12 inches long; the 
three larger ones—the brown Prairie Falcon, bluish Duck Hawk, and bluish Aplo- 
mado Falcon—range from 15 to 18 inches in length. In the Prairie Falcon and the 
Duck Hawk only one wing quill is cut out; in the Aplomado, as in the three smaller 
Falcons, two quills are cut out. 
Range. Transition and Sonoran Zones from southern British Columbia and 
southeastern Saskatchewan to eastern border of Great Plains and south to southern 
Mexico and Lower California; casual east, to Minnesota and Illinois. Breeds through¬ 
out its normal United States range. 
State Records. —[The Prairie Falcon nests and is resident at many points in the 
State—near Santa Rosa, at Lake Burford, on the edge of the San Augustine plains, 
west of Magdalena, northeast of Fair View, near the mouth of the West Fork of the 
Gila, and about Lamy (Ligon).] A pair was feeding young May 26, 1903, in a nest 
near the top of a high cliff above the Pecos River near Santa Rosa, and on June 17, 
1903, three nearly grown young were seen in a nest in a niche on the face of a 70-foot 
cliff near Montoya (Bailey). [At Lake Burford, May 23-June 19, 1918, a nest with 
young was found in the canyon below the lake (Wetmore). Near La Bajada Hill in 
