Part 35

SP. CHAR. In colors almost exactly similar to F. gyrfalco, var. labradora. Above continuous dark vandyke-brown, approaching brownish-black on the head, which is variegated only on the gular region, and inclining to grayish-brown on the tail; the whole surface entirely free from spots or markings of any kind. Beneath similar in color to the upper parts, but the feathers edged with whitish, this rather predominating on the throat; flanks and tibiæ with roundish white spots; lower tail-coverts with broad transverse bars of white. Lining of the wing with feathers narrowly tipped with white; inner webs of primaries with narrow, transverse elliptical spots of cream-color; inner webs of tail-feathers with badly defined, irregular, similar spots, or else with these wanting, the whole web being plain dusky-brown.

No. 12,022 (♀, Oregon; T. R. Peale). Wing, 15.00; tail, 8.50; culmen, .95; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 2.15. (Figured by Cassin as F. polyagrus, in Birds of California and Texas, pl. xvi.)

No. 45,814 (♀, Sitka, Alaska, May, 1866; F. Bischoff). Wing, 14.90; tail, 8.50; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 2.20. The two similar in color, but in the latter the white streaks on the lower parts a little broader, and the middle of the auriculars slightly streaked.

HAB. Northwest coast of North America, from Oregon to Sitka.

This curious race of Falco communis is a good illustration of the climatic peculiarity of the northwest coast region, to which I have often referred before; the same melanistic tendency being apparent in birds of other species from the same region, as an example of which I may mention the Black Merlin (Falco æsalon, var. suckleyi), which is a perfect miniature of the present bird.

HABITS. The Great-footed Hawk of North America is very closely allied to the well-known Peregrine Falcon of Europe, and so closely resembles it that by many writers, even at the present day, it is regarded as identical with it. Without doubt, the habits of the two races are very nearly the same, though the peculiarities of the North American bird are not so well known as are those of the European. In its distribution it is somewhat erratic, for the most part confined to the rocky sea-coast, the river-banks, and the high ground of the northeastern parts of America. It is known to breed in a few isolated rocky crags in various parts of the country, even as far to the south as Pennsylvania, and it occurs probably both as migrant and resident in several of the West India Islands, in Central and in South America. A single specimen was taken by Dr. Woodhouse in the Creek country of the Indian Territory. Two individuals are reported by Von Pelzeln as having been taken in Brazil. The Newtons met with it in St. Croix. Mr. Gosse found it in Jamaica, and Dr. Gundlach gives it as a bird of Cuba. Jardine states it to be a bird of Bermuda, and also that it has been taken in the Straits of Magellan. A single specimen was taken at Dueñas, Guatemala, in February, by Mr. Salvin.

On the Pacific coast this Falcon has been traced as far south as the limit of the land. Dr. Cooper met with only two pairs, in March, 1854, frequenting a high wooded cliff at Shoal-water Bay. Dr. Suckley procured a single specimen from Steilacoom. Dr. Cooper states that the habits of these corresponded with those described for the F. anatum and F. peregrinus, and that, like these Falcons, it is a terror to all land animals weaker than itself. It is said to breed on the rocky cliffs of the Pacific.

An individual of this bird was taken by Colonel Grayson at the Tres Marias Islands. When shot, it was endeavoring to capture a Sparrow-hawk, indicating its indifference as to the game it pursues. He adds that this bird attacks with vigor everything it sees, from the size of a Mallard Duck down, and is the terror of all small birds. Its range must be very great, as it often ventures far out to sea. On his passage from Mazatlan to San Francisco, in 1858, on the bark Carlota, one of these Falcons came on board more than a hundred miles off the coast of Lower California, and took up its quarters on the main-top yard, where it remained two days, during which time it captured several Dusky Petrels. It would dart headlong upon these unsuspecting birds, seldom missing its aim. It would then return to its resting-place and partly devour its prize. At other times it dropped its victims into the sea in wanton sport. Finally, as if tired of this kind of game, it made several wide circles around the ship, ascended to a considerable height, and departed in the direction of the Mexican shore.

This Falcon is found along the Atlantic coast from Maine to the extreme northern portion, breeding on the high rocky cliffs of Grand Menan and in various favorable situations thence northward. A few breed on Mount Tom, near the Connecticut River in Massachusetts, on Talcott Mountain in Connecticut, in Pennsylvania, and near Harper’s Ferry, in Maryland.

Mr. Boardman has several times taken their eggs from the cliffs of Grand Menan, where they breed in April, or early in May. In one instance he found the nest in close proximity to that of a pair of Ravens, the two families being apparently on terms of amity or mutual tolerance.

For several years two or more pairs of these birds have been known to breed regularly on Mount Tom, near Northampton. The nests were placed on the edges of precipitous rocks very early in the spring, the young having been fully grown by the last of June. Their young and their eggs have been taken year after year, yet at the last accounts they still continued to nest in that locality. Dr. W. Wood has also found this species breeding on Talcott Mountain, near Hartford. Four young were found, nearly fledged, June 1. In one instance four eggs were taken from a nest on Mount Tom, by Mr. C. W. Bennett, as early as April 19. This was in 1864. Several times since he has taken their eggs from the same eyrie, though the Hawks have at times deserted it and sought other retreats. In one year a pair was twice robbed, and, as is supposed, made a third nest, and had unfledged young as late as August. Mr. Allen states that these Hawks repair to Mount Tom very early in the spring, and carefully watch and defend their eyrie, manifesting even more alarm at this early period, when it is approached, than they evince later, when it contains eggs or young. Mr. Bennett speaks of the nest as a mere apology for one.

This Hawk formerly nested on a high cliff near the house of Professor S. S. Haldeman, Columbia, Penn., who several times procured young birds which had fallen from the nest. The birds remained about this cliff ten or eleven months of the year, only disappearing during the coldest weather, and returning with the first favorable change. They bred early in spring, the young leaving the nest perhaps in May. Professor Haldeman was of the opinion that but a single pair remained, the young disappearing in the course of the season.

Sir John Richardson, in his Arctic expedition in 1845, while descending the Mackenzie River, latitude 65°, noticed what he presumed to be a nest of this species, placed on the cliff of a sandstone rock. This Falcon was rare on that river.

Mr. MacFarlane found this species not uncommon on the banks of Lockhart and Anderson Rivers, in the Arctic regions. In one instance he mentions finding a nest on a cliff thirty feet from the ground. There were four eggs lying on a ledge of the shale of which the cliff was composed. Both parents were present, and kept up a continued screaming, though at too great a distance for him to shoot either. He adds that this bird is by no means scarce on Lockhart River, and he was informed that it also nests along the ramparts and other steep banks of the Upper Anderson, though he has not been able to learn that it has been found north of Fort Anderson. In another instance the nest was on a ledge of clayey mud,—the eggs, in fact, lying on the bare ground, and nothing resembling a nest to be seen. A third nest was found on a ledge of crumbling shale, along the banks of the Anderson River, near the outlet of the Lockhart. This Hawk, he remarks, so far as he was able to observe, constructs no nest whatever. At least, on the Anderson River, where he found it tolerably abundant, it was found to invariably lay its eggs on a ledge of rock or shale, without making use of any accessory lining or protection, always availing itself of the most inaccessible ledges. He was of the opinion that they do not breed to the northward of the 68th parallel. They were also to be found nesting in occasional pairs along the lime and sandstone banks of the Mackenzie, where early in August, for several successive years, he noticed the young of the season fully fledged, though still attended by the parent birds.

In subsequent notes, Mr. MacFarlane repeats his observations that this species constructs no nest, merely laying its eggs on a ledge of shale or other rock. Both parents were invariably seen about the spot. In some instances the eggs found were much larger than in others.

Mr. Dall mentions shooting a pair near Nuk´koh, on the Yukon River, that had a nest on a dead spruce. The young, on the 1st of June, were nearly ready to fly. It was not a common species, but was found from Nulato to Sitka and Kodiak.

In regard to general characteristics of this Falcon, they do not apparently differ in any essential respects from those of the better-known Falco communis of the Old World. It flies with immense rapidity, rarely sails in the manner of other Hawks, and then only for brief periods and when disappointed in some attempt upon its prey. In such cases, Mr. Audubon states, it merely rises in a broad spiral circuit, in order to reconnoitre a space below. It then flies swiftly off in quest of plunder. These flights are made in the manner of the Wild Pigeon. When it perceives its object, it increases the flappings of its wings, and pursues its victim with a surprising rapidity. It turns, and winds, and follows every change of motion of the object of pursuit with instantaneous quickness. Occasionally it seizes a bird too heavy to be managed, and if this be over the water it drops it, if the distance to land be too great, and flies off in pursuit of another. Mr. Audubon has known one of this species to come at the report of a gun, and carry off a Teal not thirty steps distant from the sportsman who had killed it. This daring conduct is a characteristic trait.

This bird is noted for its predatory attacks upon water-fowl, but it does not confine itself to such prey. In the interior, Richardson states that it preys upon the Wild Pigeon, and upon smaller birds. In one instance Audubon has known one to follow a tame Pigeon to its house, entering it at one hole and instantly flying out at the other. The same writer states that he has seen this bird feeding on dead fish that had floated to the banks of the Mississippi. Occasionally it alights on the dead branch of a tree in the neighborhood of marshy ground, and watches, apparently surveying, piece by piece, every portion of the territory. As soon as it perceives a suitable victim, it darts upon it like an arrow. While feeding, it is said to be very cleanly, tearing the flesh, after removing the feathers, into small pieces, and swallowing them one by one.

The European species, as is well known, was once largely trained for the chase, and even to this day is occasionally used for this purpose; its docility in confinement, and its wonderful powers of flight, rendering it an efficient assistant to the huntsman. We have no reason to doubt that our own bird might be made equally serviceable.

Excepting during the breeding-season, it is a solitary bird. It mates early in February, and even earlier in the winter. Early in the fall the families separate, and each bird seems to keep to itself until the period of reproduction returns.

In confinement, birds of this family become quite tame, can be trained to habits of wonderful docility and obedience, and evince even an affection for the one who cares for their wants.

This species appears to nest almost exclusively on cliffs, and rarely, if ever, to make any nests in other situations. In a few rare and exceptional cases this Falcon has been known to construct a nest in trees. Mr. Ord speaks of its thus nesting among the cedar swamps of New Jersey; but this fact has been discredited, and there has been no recent evidence of its thus breeding in that State. Mr. Dall found its nest in a tree in Alaska, but makes no mention of its peculiarities.

The eggs of this species are of a rounded-oval shape, and range from 2.00 to 2.22 inches in length, and from 1.60 to 1.90 in width. Five eggs, from Anderson River, have an average size of 2.09 by 1.65 inches. An egg from Mount Tom, Mass., is larger than any other I have seen, measuring 2.22 inches in length by 1.70 in breadth, and differs in the brighter coloring and a larger proportion of red in its markings. The ground is a deep cream-color, but is rarely visible, being generally so entirely overlaid by markings as nowhere to appear. In many the ground-color appears to have a reddish tinge, probably due to the brown markings which so nearly conceal it. In others, nothing appears but a deep coating of dark ferruginous or chocolate-brown, not homogeneous, but of varying depth of coloring, and here and there deepening into almost blackness. In one egg, from Anderson River, the cream-colored ground is very apparent, and only sparingly marked with blotches of a light brown, with a shading of bronze. An egg from the cabinet of Mr. Dickinson, of Springfield, taken on Mount Tom, Massachusetts, is boldly blotched with markings of a bright chestnut-brown, varying greatly in its shadings.

Subgenus ÆSALON, KAUP.

Æsalon, KAUP, 1829. (Type, Falco æsalon, GMELIN, = F. lithofalco, GM.) Hypotriorchis, AUCT. nec BOIE, 1826, the type of which is Falco subbuteo, LINN. Dendrofalco, GRAY, 1840. (Type, F. æsalon, GMEL.)

This subgenus contains, apparently, but the single species F. lithofalco, which is found nearly throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and in different climatic regions is modified into geographical races. Of these, North America possesses three, and Europe one; they may be distinguished as follows:—

Species and Races.

=F. lithofalco.= Second and third quills longest; first usually shorter than, occasionally equal to, or rarely longer than, the fourth. Adult female, and young of both sexes. Above brownish, varying from pale earth-brown, or umber, to nearly black, plain, or with obscure transverse spotting of lighter; tail with five to eight lighter bands, which, however, are sometimes obsolete, except the terminal one. Beneath ochraceous-white, longitudinally striped with brown or dusky over the whole surface. Adult male (except in var. suckleyi and richardsoni?). Above plumbeous-blue, with darker shaft-streaks; tail with more or less distinct bands of black, and paler tip. Beneath much as in the female and young, but stripes usually narrower and more reddish. Wing, 7.20–9.00; tail, 4.90–6.30; culmen, .45–.60; tarsus, 1.30–1.60; middle toe, 1.15–1.51.