FALCO COLUMBARWS. r,-. 



Nuthiitchcs, etc. that go trooping past; not with evil eye, however, for wnat do they want 

 with feathered bipeds? — grasshoppers are more to their liking; so they dine heartily upon 

 them. After the noon-lime siesta, if it chances to be in the spring, they take a look at 

 the hole where they have deposited their eggs for years past; then taking a short flight to 

 some neighboring stub, they sup upon grasshoppers and return to roost in the old tree. 

 This, without variation, is their lives: this, without variation, is their diet: a blue sky over- 

 head; gentle, refreshing breezes blowing across the green woodland; nothing to do but to 

 pickup grasshopper's of which they appear never to tire. It is true that they can find 

 green grasshoppers and brown grasshoppers, grasshoppers with wings and wingless gr.iss- 

 hoppcrs, but still, as far as any distinctive taste is concerned, there must be but little vari- 

 ation; yet to all appearances, the Hawks are satisfied, for I never saw one take any other 

 kind of food. 



With the Sparrow Hawks in the bleak North, all this is quite different; here they are 

 obliged to work for a living and, although insects form a part of their food, they do not, 

 in l\ict, cannot, subsist on this kind of diet alone; mice and other small mammals, little 

 birds, and even reptiles are obliged to contribute to their larder. Nor are thesj ahvays 

 easily gained; thus it is not infrequent to see a Sparrow Hawk hovering over a field, sus- 

 pending himself on rajiidly vibrating wings, and darting downward many times before his 

 hunger is fully appeased. 



The Sparrow Hawks of Florida breed in the natural cavities of trees or in the desert- 

 ed holes of Woodpeckers, often in trees which are inhabited by these latter uiimed birds, 

 and all live together upon good terms. The eggs are deposited by the middle of April, in 

 this section, and a little later further north. The young leave the nest early in July and 

 accompany their parents for some time, then separate into pairs. These Hawks iire rather 

 uncommon in Massachusetts, even in summer, and are quite rare in winter, for the great- 

 er part migrate south of us. 



These little Hawks are quite gentle in confinement, when used well, making pretty as 

 well as interesting pets and several that I had, became so familiar as to perch on my fin- 

 ger in order to take food from my haml. 



FALCO COLUMBARIUS. ^ 

 Pigeon Hawk. 

 Falco columbarius Linn., Syst. Nat., I; 1766, 128. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Cii. Form, rather robust. Size, medium. Sternum, stout, witli the mar;;inal indentntions quite hirj^e. Toniruc, 

 Bhort, thiulc, quite lleshy, about the same width for nearly its entire Icnjtth, Imrny at tip, wliere it is rounded, bilid, and 

 grooved beneath. Tail, moderately rounded. Win_;;s, with two outer quills incised. Taisus, slightly feathered in froui- 

 There are usually no traces of any cceea. 



C01.0U. Adult male. Above, including upper wing coverts, secondaries, and upper tail coverts, dark hluish-slate, 

 every feather having a narrow, central, longitudinal line of black. I'rimaries, black, tijiped with ashy-white. Tail, liglit . 

 liluish-ivsh, becoming nearly white cm the inner webs; it is tipped with ashy-white and crossed by a wide subterminal band 

 of black, and also by several other narrower bands of the same color. Forehead and throat, white. Remainder i;f under 

 parUs, including under wing coverLs "idcr tail coverts, and tibia, pale buff, streaked with dark-hmwn 



