Jan., 1909. Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory. 481 



170a. Falco columbarius richardsonii (Ridgw.)- 

 Richardson's Pigeon Hawk. Richardson's Merlin. 



Falco richardsonii Ridgw., A. O. U. Check List, 1895, p. 139. 



Distr.: North America, west of the Mississippi Valley, from the 

 Saskatchewan to Arizona and west to the Pacific coast; accidental 

 in Wisconsin. 



This western form may be distinguished from F. columbarius by 

 its lighter color, the tail banded by six pale and five darker bands; 

 and outer webs of primaries, distinctly spotted. 



Mr. Charles K. Worthen WTites me he has killed a bird of this 

 species at Warsaw^ 111., and according to Kumlien and Hollister a 

 number of specimens have been taken in Wisconsin. They write: 

 " We have two specimens from Stevens Point and have taken it 

 several times during the past ten years at Lake Koshkonong. 

 * * * * A fine specimen in Mr. Skavlem's collection was shot near 

 Janesville in the fall of 1886." (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 67.) It 

 has also been recorded from Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, and 

 Iowa. 



Subgenus CERCHNEIS Boile. 



171. Falco sparverius Linn. 

 American Sparrow Hawk. 



Distr.: "North America, east of the Rocky Mountains, and from 

 Great Slave Lake south to northern South America." (A. O. U.) 



Adult male: Top of head, bluish slate color, with a spot of rufous 

 brown on back of crown; back, rufous brown, banded with black; 

 ramp and tail, rufous brown, irregularly marked with more or 

 less black and having a broad subterminal band of black tipped with 

 white; wing coverts, slate color, marked with black; primaries, dark 

 grayish brown, banded with white on the inner webs; a stripe of black 

 extending from beneath the eye down the side of the throat; throat, 

 whitish; breast, brownish bufif; sides of belly, buffy white, spotted 

 with black. 



Adult female : Crown, rufous; the nape, slate color; rest of upper 

 parts, rufous brown, banded with black; upper surface of tail, bright 

 rufous brown, with numerous narrow bands of black, and narrowly- 

 tipped with buffy white; primaries, banded with brown and white 

 and with more or less rufous bordering the shafts; under parts, dull 

 white or buffy white, streaked with pale brown. 



