DESERT SPARROW HAWK 123 



Food. — The food and feeding habits do not differ much from those of 

 other sparrow hawks, though different species of mammals, birds, 

 reptiles, and insects are included. Dr. John W. Sugden has sent me 

 the following note: 



"In the process of feeding, this bird exhibits a distinct preference for 

 the Orthoptera, and in devouring a grasshopper varies but little in the 

 method employed. The insect is grasped by the talons about the 

 abdomen and hind legs. If it is caught in any other position, it is 

 rotated by being held in the beak and regrasped in the correct position 

 by the talons. The grasshopper is held much the same as a child would 

 hold an ice-cream cone. The bird begins by taking several bites of 

 the head. Next the thorax is eaten. The viscera are pulled out and 

 swallowed or occasionally dropped. If dropped, the bird often looks 

 about, as if determining if anything of value has been lost. The first 

 two pairs of legs and the wings are discarded by a flip of the beak. 

 The femora of the third pair of legs are then eaten by taking several 

 bites and the rest of the leg discarded. The abdomen then remains in 

 the tjilons and, if small, is swallowed in one piece, but, if large, several 

 bites may be taken. If any pieces of food remain on the talons, they 

 are picked off and the bird finishes by cleaning its beak by rapidly 

 brushing it on the perch. Small insects are eaten with a similar pro- 

 cedure and rarely by gulping, as the screech owl invariably does. In 

 feeding on an English sparrow, or small mouse, the hawk holds its 

 prey with the talons and, beginning at the nape of the neck, pulls off 

 strips of flesh. Flies are repeatedly rejected, even if the bird is 

 hungry. Beef is preferred to other meats, and pork is never touched." 



In the depths of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, at 4.35 p. m. on 

 October 30, 1930, George M. Wright (1932) saw a desert sparrow hawk 

 capture and devour a small bat. He says: 



The inner gorge was in shadows, though the sun still brightened the plateau 

 above. The hawk flew low over the edge of the plateau, and while under observa- 

 tion it was seen to be pursuing a small fluttering object which I instantly took to 

 be a bird. My immediate thought was to make sure that it was a sparrow hawk 

 thus engaged in so unorthodox a pursuit. My field glasses were trained on the 

 hawk and followed it while it dived at its prey, which proved to be a small bat. 

 It dived repeatedly, not following the bat about, but striking at it and then 

 gaining a little height before bearing down again. Once, however, it followed the 

 bat into the overhanging recess toward which it was retreating and chased it out 

 again. At about the seventh attempt, the little bat was caught in its talons and 

 carried to the top of the ledge over the recess. The bird remained there for about 

 two minutes, picked at its prize a couple of times and then flew to a rock on the 

 plateau above. In flight, the sparrow hawk was silhouetted against the evening 

 sky and its extended talons could plainly be seen clutching the body of the little 

 bat whose wings appeared to be folded. 



Behavior. — We found the desert sparrow hawk really abundant in 

 Arizona and in certain sections of southern California and met with it 

 almost daily in the desert regions of Arizona, where it was decidedly 



