>>How about Red-tailed Hawk?
>
>This would be the first guess, though a red-tail hanging out in a
>city neighborhood seems about as unlikely as a peregrine. Maybe
>it was a neighborhood boy with a pellet gun. Or do they use Uzis
>these days?

Actually, there are red-tails scattered all over the greater Seattle area;
it's always a surprise to see one on a telephone pole in a wooded
neighborhood, or on a tree branch next to the freeway almost downtown, but
there they are! I see them from my yard with some regularity, including
during the summer, although I don't know of them breeding anywhere
especially near. I agree fully that it's a lot more likely squirrel
predator.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416