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Duck Hawk; Peregrine Falcon
Adult--Upper parts dark slate colour; tail darker, tipped with white; under parts cream, barred with dark slate colour or black, except upper part of breast. "Length--16.00; 19.00."
Breeding Range--The Eastern States--breeding very locally.
The nest is usually placed in the ledges of rocks in the mountainous districts, but sometimes a hollow in a large tree is used. 3 to 4 eggs are laid; they vary greatly in colour; some are creamy white with dark chocolate blotches, and others are reddish brown, spotted and blotched with various shades of the same colour. Size--2.08 x 1.63.
Few people associate the name of Duck Hawk with the Peregrine Falcon of history, yet this is the bird that was used when falconry was the fashionable pastime; at that time almost any price was paid for a well-trained tercel, as the male bird was called; now that falconry has almost died out, the name of peregrine will probably go, and the more common name of duck hawk will be the only name by which this bird will be known.
The breeding season in the South begins in March.