Mar., 1913 NESTING OF THE PRAIRIE FALCON 61 yens (and so gets credited with a "stick" nest, though I am satisfied that the Falcon never lifts a txvig); and the Ravens, in turn, without opposition, are al- lowed to rear their pile in a niche just previously occupied by the Falcons. The ruses adopted by birds hard pressed are sometimes humorously pathetic. A Fal- con which last year occupied the front of a noble escarpment in a wild valley (and forfeited four clouded beauties thereby), was found this year after a lengthy search, in a tiny niche once occupied by a Road-runner, on the back, or hill-facing side, of a minor sandstone tooth, and not over twenty feet from the ground. The retreat had been betrayed by an incautious line of ?vhite excrement, and the occupant, when summoned by a shout from the triumphant Kelly, looked Fig. 14. AN EASY DESCENT; NEST IN CRANNY A LITTLE ABOVE CLIMBER the very picture of disgust and chagrin. She was mad all through, too disgusted for utterance, and she sat glooming upon the edge of the nest until we drew very near. When she flew she gave vent to the usual number of futile expletives, whereupon the male joined her and gave us a double blessing. Choice of sites varies from "potholes" and crannies to more pretentious caves or even open ledges. A south exposure is oftenest favored and there seems to be no particular effort on the part of the sitting bird to avoid the glare of the sun: Unseasonable rains, however, do sometimes cause her discomfort, and more rarely, loss. The first two weeks in April are the golden weeks for Falcon nesting in the cattle country. Evidently many sets are complete by April first, for we found
