THE AKREDONDO SPARROW HAWK 13 



scious victim. Where is the feathered creature that loves 

 an owl? 



A red-headed woodpecker was the first to discover this 

 big horned fellow, and his wrathful notes told at once of 

 danger. Other birds were attracted by the noise, and came 

 quickly to join their voices in a chorus of protests. Such a 

 bedlam of sounds they made, as flying about the tree or hop- 

 ping among the branches they heaped upon the unfortunate 

 owl all the vile epithets they could command ! There were 

 a pair of mocking birds, a shrike and several blue jays; 

 and a dozen martins added their cackling notes to the 

 uproar. 



High above all flew the Arredondo sparrow hawk. Sud- 

 denly he descended straight as an arrow at the head of 

 the hated owl. The old rogue dodged the blow and soon 

 turned his wing-beats toward the depths of the forest. 

 Above him in the air hung the pair of sparrow hawks, 

 who continued their pursuit, taking turns at striking down 

 at him, for fully half a mile oT- his flight. 



The food of the sparrow hawks consisted largely of 

 grasshoppers, together with a sprinkling of beetles and 

 crickets. I have seen them capture the little striped 

 lizards common along the paths and highways of Florida. 

 But first and last their fare is grasshoppers. Where they 

 find them when cold weather comes would be hard to tell. 



