. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Peregrine Falcon marvelously fast that even the ducks have not a chance to escape, unless there is some pond or slough near by into which they can dive. The writer remembers standing, with several companions, on the shore of Summit Lake one late Octo- ber day, when, upon hearing a sound like a heavy wind blowing through the tules, we turned and saw a duck plunge into the lake from a height of not less than six hundred feet. The splash of the im
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Peregrine Falcon marvelously fast that even the ducks have not a chance to escape, unless there is some pond or slough near by into which they can dive. The writer remembers standing, with several companions, on the shore of Summit Lake one late Octo- ber day, when, upon hearing a sound like a heavy wind blowing through the tules, we turned and saw a duck plunge into the lake from a height of not less than six hundred feet. The splash of the im- pact resembled the report of a revolver. 'Bullet-hawk,' called one of the men, and looking up we saw one of these long- winged pirates making off for a new field. "At another time we noticed a small flock of teal winging their way toward us, with a black speck fully a quarter of a mile in their wake and slightly above them. The flight of the ducks, rapid as it was, seemed slow in contrast to that of the hawk. The latter was almost upon the unsuspecting birds in an incredibly short time. Suddenly the ducks scattered and half a dozen teal fell with cries of fear into the water almost at our feet. Had there been no water directly under them at the moment the hawk was seen, there is no doubt that at least one duck would have been captured. A friend tells of seeing a Duck Hawk dash at a lone goose that was flying over, striking it head-on with such force that it fell within a few feet of the observer. Besides a broken wing the bird seemed to have suffered otherwise to a great extent, for it soon ; For a nesting site the Falcon chooses an inaccessible cranny in some commanding cliff. In default of shelter, an exposed ledge midway of some sheer precipice will do as well. The southern coast ranges offer a con- siderable variety of rounded pockets or lens-shaped cavities, left either by the defection of a nodule, or else by the evanescence of some frail sub- stance o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
