THE SPARROW HAWK. 539 



BIRDS of rare Itreed these, and our local knowledge of them is still con- 

 fined to the meager notes accompanying the taking of specimens by Captain 

 Bendire at Fort W^alla Walla, and by Dr. Alerrill at Fort Sherman. Idaho. 

 Capt. Bendire concluded that the bird did not breed near Walla Walla, but Dr. 

 Merrill took a specimen at Fort Sherman on the 20th of .\ugust ; and it is alto- 

 gether probable that the bird will be found as a rare nester in Washington. 



In habit the Richardson Merlin is an exact counterpart of the better- 

 known Pigeon Hawk. In plumage it is much lighter, and appears at a glance 

 to be a mere bleached, or desert t}-pe. of the Fulco coliiiiihariiis race. Perhaps 

 it is: but the persistence of its six taibbars argues against this theorv, and 

 points to a more ancient strain, from which both were deri\-ed, .and of which 

 the Eiu'opean Merlin with its riglit taildiars is a cognate e\am]>le. 



No. 218. 



SPARROW HAWK. 



A. O. V. No. 360. Faico sparverius Linn. 



Synonj-m. — Rustv-crowned F.\lcox. 



Description. — Adult male: Top of head slaty blue, with a rufous crown- 

 patch; sides of head and throat white, a black stri])e fnmi the lower eye-lid an- 

 teriorl)-. proceeding obliquely downward : a similar transverse bar on the side of 

 the neck, and a dab on either side and sometimes in the middle of the cervix; 

 back, scapulars, and tail rich rusty red ; strong black bars in variable quantity 

 across the middle of the l)ack and lower scapulars, or rareh- reaching cervix ; a 

 heavy subterminal black band on tail, the central feathers tipped with rufous 

 and the others with white : the wing-co\erts and inner quills ( including second- 

 aries ) slaty blue, the former black-s]:)Otted and the latter crossed bv a heavy lilack 

 bar; primaries blackish, the ])oint of wing formed by the second: the first shari)ly 

 emarginate on the inner web, the second slightly so; all the wing-c|uills heavily 

 spotted with white on the inner webs, these spots confluent in bars on the under 

 surface : below whitish or slightly tinged, immaculate on lower bellv, flanks, and 

 crissum ; elsewdiere (save on throat, as noted above) lighth- tinged or heavily 

 shaded with rufous, — the fore breast usually but not always unmarked, the sides 

 and middle belly very lightly or quite heavily s])otted with black. Bill bluish black ; 

 cere and feet yellow. Young male: Similar to adult, but lower scapulars and 

 wing-quills lightly tipped with white; not so heavily shaded with rufous below. 

 Adult female: Subsimilar, but wings like the back; the black barring regular and 

 continuous over entire back, wings (except quills), and tail, — the tail having ten 

 to twelve bars, but the subterminal bar often larger ; barring indicated narrowly 

 across upper tail-coverts; below not tinged with rufons. but streaked instead with 

 rusty brown; the sides sometimes barred with blackish. Young female: "Similar 

 to adult, but colors softer, deeper, and more lilcnded" (Ridgway). Adult male. 



