174 



Birds of Xorth Carolina 



The Pigeon Hawk appears to 1)0 a rare transient in this State, our only records 

 boiiiK October 1, 1880; April 21 and 23, 1888; April 19, 1902; September 2, 1910; 

 and October 4, 1914, all from Haleigh, a single specimen being taken on each date. 

 Cairns secured a female in Huncombe County on October 19, 1894. 



ir^m^. 



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Fig. 134. PicKON II.wvK. 



158.^Falco sparverius sparverius (Linn.). Sparrow Hawk. 



Dcsrriidion.— Male, back tawny, wiuKs liluish and l)la<>k, tail chestnut vvitli a 

 lianil near tip, below wliiti.sh <>v tawny. Female willi liack and \vins-covcrts rusty, 

 black; tail tawny, with several black l)ars. L., 10. (JO; \V., 7.25; T., 4.75. 



Ranqe. — ^North and South America. 



linwje in North Carolina. — Whole Slate, apparently resident. 



broad bl; 

 barred w 



ick 

 ith 



Fio. 135. Sr.vKKow H.\wk. 



The handsome little Sjjarrow Hawk is a cunnnon bird throughout the Slate and 

 occurs at all seasons, but appears to be much less in evidence during the summer 

 months. Cairns stated that in Bimconibe County it bred in .\pril and May. Pear- 

 son found a nest with four eggs May 10, 1902, at Greensboro. This was in the 

 hollow of a living oak tree, near the Greensboro Female College and within fifteen 

 feet of a railway. He also recorded a nest found at Chapel Hill in May, 1898, 

 which held three fresh eggs. C. S. Brimley on May 31, 1913, saw a pair ajipar- 

 ently nesting in the hollow of a dead tree at Sunburst, Haywood County. 



Although fe(Hling occasionally on small birds, and more fretiuently on mici> and 

 lizards, it confines itself mainly to insects, especially the easily procured gra.ss- 

 hoppers. 



I 



