42 Norman A. Wood 



its young near Fort Union. Reed, 1904, p. 169; a set of eggs from Stark County, 

 taken May 4, iQOi. by Edw. Dodd. Judd, 1917, p. 18; not common, several seen dur- 

 ing the season. One female taken in, June, 1895, by Dr. Louis Bishop. Bailey, 1920, 

 p. 69; a duck hawk flew swiftly in, darted down and seized a coot at Island Lake, 

 Ramsey County. 



Mr. Alfred Eastgate, who lived for several years (1894-1915) on the 

 shore of Stump Lake, Nelson County, told the writer that duck hawks were 

 common there from October 10 to November 10 each year. Mr. Williams 

 mounted one taken in October, 1904, at Glasston, by C. Storey. On May 

 19, 1921, I saw a bird perched on a stone duck blind on the point west of 

 Creel Bay, Devils Lake. This was the only specimen seen alive, but Mr. 

 D. R. Ducke, of the State Fish and Game Commission, gave me a skin of 

 an immature bird taken by him in Eddy County, April 10, 1910. 



130. Falco columharius columbarius Linnaeus. Pigeon Hawk. 



Allen, 1875. p. 64; seen at distant intervals on the Heart River in September. 

 CouES, 1897, p. 162 ; on September 5, on the upper Missouri, Audubon saw a pigeon 

 hawk chase a spotted sandpiper, which dove under the water and escaped. Judd, 

 ^9'^7> p. 18; hawks seen flying at a distance were assigned to this species. Rare, if 

 it occurs at all. 



Mr. Alfred Eastgate says it is a common migrant. The skin of a male 

 taken September 16, 1914, at Grafton, Walsh County, by H. \'. Williams, 

 is in the Museum of Zoology Collection. No living birds were seen, but 

 there is a mounted one without data in the Biological Station Museum at 

 Devils Lake, and another in the Williams Collection, taken at Grafton, June 

 18, 1912, by Mr. Williams, who says it nests there rarely. There is also a 

 mounted male in the Agricultural College Museum from Kenmare, Ward 

 County, taken May 2, 1913, by H. E. Peck. 



131. Falco columbarius riclmrdsom Ridgway. Richardson's Pigeon Hawk. 



CouES, 1874, p. 349; young male taken at Fort Rice by General Alfred Sully. 

 CouES, 1878, p. 623; one specimen, the only individual of this species observed, was 

 taken on the headwaters of the Mouse River, September 8, 1873. Bendire, 1892, p. 

 304; U. S. National Museum contains some from North Dakota. 



The species was not seen in the field, and so far as known there are no 

 specimens in the state collections. 



132. Falco sparverius sparz'erius Linnaeus. Sparrow Hawk. 



CouES, 1878, p. 623 ; very abundant throughout the region surveyed. Many speci- 

 mens were taken from Pembina to Mouse River, June 19 to August 30, 1873. HoFf- 

 M.^N, 1882, p. 402; frequently seen in pursuit of small birds near the village. CouES, 

 1897. p. 24; on June 10 a sparrow hawk was killed above the Little Missouri River. 



This is a common summer resident of all the wooded areas ; it was pres- 

 ent on my arrival at Devils Lake, May 3, 192 1, and one was found nesting 

 the last of that month in an oak tree at the side of the road on the Rock 

 Island Military Reservation. Of four specimens taken, three are, no doubt, 

 of this eastern species, while one is referred to the western or desert form. 



The sparrow hawk is a very beneficial species, living princpally upon 

 insects and injurious mammals. 



