FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, P:TC. 171 



pure wliite witli Uiw ni;irkiii<i.s to deep ciiiniDnon Ijiiff, more oi' It-ss sprin- 

 kled or blotched with darker Ijrowii. 



Food. — Mainly f^rasshopjjers and crickets; also other insects, snails, 

 small injurious niannnals, and sometimes birds. 



The habits of the castci-ii sparrow hawk arc the same as those of 

 the western. " 



360a. F. s. deserticola Mmms. Dksekt Spakhow Hawk. 



Similar to F. sparvf-rius but larg-er, with relatively longer tail and paler, 

 more rufous coloration. 



iJistribiition. — Western United States and British Columbia ; south to 

 Guatemala. 



Food. — Small mammals such as mice and g-ophers. with grasshoppers. 

 and other insects. 



The marsh hawk and the sparrow hawk are the two most familiar 

 members of tiie hawk family. Instead of six^nding their time soaring 

 high in the sky or darting back ami forth through the treetops, 

 Circus beats slowly low^ over our meadows for mice, while the .spar- 

 row hawk builds his nest in a knot-hole of a tree by the roadside 

 and sits on a fence post when not hovering over the meadow looking 

 for grasshoppers. His hand.some, trim little person is familiar to 

 passers by, while his shrill killy-killy-killy, given as he hovers, is one 

 of the pleasant well-known sounds of the open country. 



In the moimtains the sparrow hawks often alTect the high places. 

 On Mount Shasta they have been seen at about 13,000 feet. On Las- 

 .sen Peak, Mr. W. K. Fisher saw one in such hot pursuit of a Clarke 

 crow that it took refuge in a clump of hemlocks. In the Wind 

 River Mountains they have been seen hovering over large tracts of 

 slide rock as if in search of conies and chipmunks. 



GENUS POLYBORUS. 



362. Polyborus cheriway (Jdrij.). .\i duhon ("akacaka. 



Bill long, compressed, only slightly hooked ; nostrils linear, olilitpip, 

 slanting down toward cutting edge of bill ; uj)per mandibh; .scalloj)ed on 

 cutting edge; tarsus nearly twice as long as middle toe without claw, 

 almost wholly naked. 



Adults. — Skin of face neaily bare: horizontal crest and Ixtdy blackish 

 brown except for white collar and white on wings and tail, tin* whire- col- 

 lar widening to a cape on l)ack. grading from pure white through spotted 

 and barred black and white to black ; wings with white shaft streaks and 

 grayish white patch on *|nills ; tail white, with l)roa«l lilack terminal band 

 and about 1;{ or 14 narrow dusky l»ai-s. Ynutiif : ])lack of adults replaced by 

 brown, mixed black and white cape of adult <lingv whitish. strip«'d with 

 dark brown. Lemjif,: 'JtUO-lCKOO. wing 14.00- l(J..'lo, tail S.S0-1(M 0. bill 

 1.'J0-1.4S. 



Distribution. — Resident along the southern border of the I'nited States 

 (P'lorida, Texas, and Arizona) and Lower (^difornia ; extending south to 

 South America. Ecuador, and (luiana. 



