66 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 



Accipiter velox (PVilson) 



A. O. U. Xumber ^2 See Color Plate 44 



Other Names. — Pigeon Hawk; Sparrow Hawk; 

 Bird Hawk; Chicken Hawk; Bullet Hawk; Little Blue 

 Darter. 



General Description. — Length; male, ii inches; 

 female, 12 to 14 inches. Spread of wings, 23 to 27 

 inches. Color above, dark bluish-slate; below, white. 

 Tail, square or slightly notched at tip ; five outer prima- 

 ries notched on inner webs. 



Color. — Adults : Head, nape, back, shoulders, wings, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts, dark bluish-slate; pri- 

 maries and tail, more brownish ; the tail barred by four 

 well-defined bands of brownish-black, the last sub- 

 terminal and broader than the rest, the first concealed 

 by the upper coverts; feathers of back of head, snowy 

 white beneath the surface but showing when the 

 feathers are erected; side of head, pale rufous; lores, 

 cheeks, chin, throat and lower parts, pure white ; chin, 

 throat, and cheeks, marked with fine blackish shaft 

 streaks ; chest, abdomen, sides, flanks, and elongated leg 

 feathers with numerous traverse broad bars of reddish 

 rufous, these bars centrally heart-shaped and rather 

 narrower than the white ones ; on the sides the rufous 

 predominates, the bars broadly arrowhead-shaped, con- 

 nected along shafts; lower tail-coverts, pure white; 

 bill, dark horn color; iris, cere, and feet, yellow; claws. 



black. Young: .'\bove, umber-brown ; feathers of head, 

 edged with dull light rufous; feathers of rest of upper 

 parts bordered with the same color; the shoulders and 

 rump showing roundish spots of white: tail as in 

 adult but more brownish ; below, dull white, tawny or 

 yellowish, boldly striped lengthwise with dark umber or 

 reddish-brown ; feathers, generally black-shafted ; sides 

 of head and neck more narrowly streaked; broad, light 

 stripe over eye. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Usually in a conifer, 

 rarely on a ledge of rock; constructed of small sticks 

 with or without a lining of leaves or bark; remark- 

 ably large for the size of the bird. Eggs: 4 or 5, dull 

 bluish or greenish-white, boldly marked with large 

 spots and blotches of different shades of brown, some- 

 times inclined to form a wreath around larger end, 

 sometimes evenly distributed ; occasionally reduced to 

 small spots or so thickly placed as almost to obscure 

 the ground tint. 



Distribution. — North .'\merica ; breeds nearly 

 throughout the United States and Canada from north- 

 western Alaska, northwestern Mackenzie, southern 

 Keewatin, central Quebec, and Newfoundland south- 

 ward ; winters from British Columbia, Colorado, Iowa, 

 northern Ohio, and Massachusetts south to Panama. 



Although the Sharp-shinned Hawk has a bod}' 

 but httle larger than a Robin's, this relentless 

 buccaneer, like his larger relative, the Cooper's 

 Hawk, fully upholds the traditions of Hawks for 



Photo by H. K. Job 

 A NESTFUL OF BABY SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS 



destructiveness. Fortunately the persistent cam- 

 paign of education, teaching the difference be- 

 tween " good " and " bad " birds of this family, 

 is having its effect, and agriculturists are realiz- 



ing that but few birds of prey are more harmful 

 than beneficial. Opinion is gradually crystalliz- 

 ing into the conviction that but three Hawks de- 

 serve destruction — this species, the Cooper's 

 Hawk and the Goshawk. There are individuals 

 of other species who acquire a taste for poultry 

 and it may become necessary to eliminate a par- 

 ticular individual, but the wholesale destruction 

 of Hawks brings punishment on ignorance by an 

 increase of quadrtiped and insect pests. 



This murderous little villain will destroy all 

 small birds unforttmate enough to live within 

 its hunting grounds. At times it seems to " see 

 red," attacking with blind fury birds much larger 

 than itself. I saw one tackle a Screech Owl and 

 have no dotibt he would have killed it had there 

 been no interference, handicapped as the Owl 

 was by daylight. Quick as he is, the Flicker 

 often escapes his onslaught by dodging around 

 a limb, but is caught if attempting flight. A 

 family of six young Flickers were killed, one 

 after the other, because experience had not taught 

 them to hug the branch ; the Hawk's swift 

 plunges frightened them into flight, and the little 

 demon nailed them before they had gone ten 

 feet! R. I. Brasher. 



