THE AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. 



VERY boy who has been in the 

 fields is familiar with this 

 beautiful little Hawk, 

 which is numerous every- 

 where in North America. As Davie 

 felicitously says: "Here it may be 

 seen hovering almost motionless in 

 mid air, then suddenly swooping down 

 to the ground, arises again with per- 

 haps a field-mouse in its talons." 

 From this habit it receives the name 

 of Mouse Hawk, although it also preys 

 upon Sparrows and other small birds. 

 It is found almost everywhere, though 

 most abundant along streams where 

 grow the high sycamores, whose natural 

 cavities furnish suitable nesting places, 

 but meadows and fields are its retreats 

 when in search of food. It builds no 

 nest, but deposits its eggs in the 

 natural cavities of high trees, often in 

 the deserted holes of Woodpeckers, 

 or in crevices in rocks or nooks about 

 buildings. In the West it frequently 

 appropriates a deserted Magpie's nest. 

 Eggs of this Hawk were taken from 

 a crevice in a stone quarry in the 

 Scioto river, where the birds nested 

 for years. The Sparrow Hawk often 

 takes possession of boxes intended for 

 Pigeons, and it always proves to be a 

 peaceable neighbor. The nests gen- 

 erally contain no lining, but in some 

 cases a slight bed of leaves or grasses 

 on a few chips are used. The eggs 



are four to six, buffy white, speckled, 

 spotted, and blotched with light and 

 dark brown. 



This Hawk is not as active or de- 

 structive as others of the Falcon tribe. 

 Its flight is usually short and irregular, 

 darting here and there, often hovering 

 in a suspended manner for several 

 moments at a time. During the sum- 

 mer months, it occasionally kills small 

 birds, but feeds chiefly upon mice, 

 lizards, grasshoppers, crickets, and the 

 like, as they are so much easier to 

 capture than full grown birds, and to 

 which they rarely turn their attention, 

 until the cold weather drives the other 

 forms of life, upon which they so 

 largely feed, into their winter beds. 

 The bird that suffers most outside of 

 the Horned Larks and Longspurs, is 

 the Tree Sparrow, as it prefers the 

 hedges and small thickets upon the 

 prairies, instead of the wooded lands, 

 for its sheltered home; its food in all 

 such cases being upon the open lands, 

 and whenever there is snow upon the 

 ground it drifts against the hedges and 

 forces the little birds to seek the bare 

 spots, quite a distance away, for the 

 seeds on or fallen from the weeds. 

 Here it is that the Hawk, says Goss, 

 successfully performs its work, by dart- 

 ing from a perch and striking the 

 Sparrow, either upon the ground or 

 before it can reach its hiding place. 



The woods are full of voices everywhere; 



An hundred chipmunks' sharp, quick tones are there ; 



The cricket's chirp, the partridge drum. 



The harsh-voiced crows which go and come, 



In Nature's song agree. 



The breeze that wanders through the firs, 



The ru.stle of each leaf that stirs, 



Are whisperings to me. 



So, when swift impulse leads in ways unknown, 



I follow on without a thought of fear; 



God reigns, and I can never be alone, 



With Nature near. 



— Tom Carder, Jr. 



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