90 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



The Pigeon Hawk is a stocky, well-built, im- 

 petuous miniature of the Duck Hawk, which it 

 closely resembles in color and habits. It is 

 widely distributed but nowhere common in the 

 United States. This is fortunate, for its princi- 

 pal food is birds. 



Many migrants from the New England States 

 cross the Sound to Long Island, following the 

 Great South Beach westward. I have found this 

 Hawk most abundant there during October, pur- 

 suing the shore birds, especially Sanderlings 

 and Ringed Plovers. Strong northwest winds 

 are prevalent along this beach in the autumn 

 and the Pigeon Hawks tack across the wind 

 on their way westward and south. The short 

 " board " is made directly into the wind's eye, 

 then a long slant with the breeze on the quarter 

 carries them well on their way to the westward. 

 Sometimes a number of Hawks of different 

 species can be seen as far as the eye can reach 

 up and down the beach going through these 

 maneuvers, crossing and recrossing each other on 

 the ditTerent " tacks." 



A darker colored form of the Pigeon Hawk is 

 the Black Pigeon Hawk or Black Merlin ( Falco 



cuUiiiiburiiis sitcklcyi). The throat of the male 

 is streaked with black, and the rest of the lower 

 parts are brownish-black with chestnut and 

 whitish markings ; the lower parts of the female 

 and the young male are heavily marked with 

 dusky and the spotting of the wings is faint or 

 absent. It inhabits the northwest coast region 

 from northern California to Sitka, Alaska, and 

 it is similar to the stock species in nesting and 

 habits. 



Richardson's Pigeon Hawk or Richardson's 

 Merlin (Falco coliinibariits richardsoni) averages 

 lighter in coloration than the Pigeon Hawk and 

 its tail is crossed by five dark bands and six 

 light ones. Otherwise, in color, in habits, and in 

 nesting it is similar to the Pigeon Hawk. It is 

 found in the interior of western North America ; 

 it breeds in the region of the Great Plains from 

 southern Alberta and the middle of the Sas- 

 katchewan valley to northern Montana and North 

 Dakota. It winters south to southern Lower 

 California, northwestern Mexico, and southern 

 Texas. It has also been seen in California, 

 Missouri, and South Carolina. 



R. I. Brasher. 



SPARROW HAWK 

 Falco sparverius sparverius L'uinwus 



A. O. U. Xumber 360 See Color Plate 52 



Other Names. — American Sparrow Hawk ; American 

 Kestrel: Rusty-crowned Falcon; Grasshopper Hawk; 

 Mouse Hawk ; Kitty Hawk ; Windhover ; Short-winged 

 Hawk. 



General Description. — Length. 11 inches. Color 

 above, cinnamon-rufous; below, pale rusty and whitish. 

 Two outer primaries notched on inner webs ; tarsus but 

 slightly feathered in the front, broadly bare on back, 

 and decidedly longer than the middle toe. 



Color. — AnuLT Male: Crown and back of head to 

 about level of eyes, fine bluish-ash. enclosing a patch of 

 chestnut; sides and back of neck, yellowish-white with 

 a spot of dusky-ash on each side of neck; back and 

 shoulders, cinnamon rufous, evenly barred with black; 

 wing-coverts and secondaries, fine bluish-ash, the middle 

 coverts and inner secondaries with subterminal wedge- 

 shaped spots of black; primaries, pale dusky tipped 

 with yellowish; tail, cinnamon rufous with a broad 

 subterminal bar of black tipped with white; lores, 

 throat, and sides of head, white with o black streak 

 below eye and another borderinij the tvhite area behind ; 

 breast and upper abdomen, pale rusty; rest of under 

 parts, whitish spotted on lower breast with small 

 round blackish dots, on flanks with paler blackish 

 wedge-shaped spots; under tail-coverts, pure white; 



outer tail-feathers, mostly white with black bars: bill, 

 pale bluish-horn ; cere, feet, and bare skin around eye, 

 yellow; claws, black; iris, deep brown. .'Vdult Fem.\le: 

 Head and neck, as in adult male but usually with fine 

 black shaft streaks on crown ; back, shoulders, wing- 

 coverts, secondaries, rump, and tail, cinnamon rufous; 

 tail, banded with 5 or 6 imperfect black bars, the sub- 

 terminal one broader, more distinct, feathers tipped 

 with white; secondaries, dusky centrally, rufous show- 

 ing as narrow edgings and tips, rest of upper parts 

 including the coverts, barred with dusky ; primaries, 

 grayish dusky edged with yellowish-white ; chest and 

 lower parts in general pale yellowish-white with pale 

 brownish longitudinal streaks; thigh feathers more 

 whitish and unmarked: bill, feet, etc., as in adult male. 

 Nest and Eggs. — Eggs : Deposited in natural 

 cavities of trees, deserted Woodpecker holes, in rock 

 cavities, holes in banks, artificial nesting boxes, or in 

 crannies of outbuildings, without nesting material : 4 or 

 5, ground color varying from creamy-white to reddish- 

 buflf, specked, spotted or clouded with shades of Indian 

 red and brown, usually largest and more numerous or 

 sometimes wreathed at greater end ; some eggs minutely 

 dotted all over with dark brown, some so heavily 

 splashed as to conceal the ground color. 



