142 LAND BIRDS 
their sharp claws and tear from it with a right good-will. 
It is comparatively easy, with a large amount of patience, 
a good blind, and a field glass, to watch the brood de- 
velop day by day; for although so wild, the Marsh 
Hawks will not desert their nestlings, and if you can so 
arrange as to be inconspicuous they have little fear of 
you. 
332. SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. — Acczpiter veloc. 
Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. 
Length: Male 10.00-11.50 ; female 12.50-14.00. 
Adult Male: Upper parts slate-color ; under parts white, heavily barred 
and spotted with chestnut; tail with three or four narrow black 
bands and a white tip. 
Adult Female: Similar, but with markings less pronounced. 
Young: Dusky brown above, buffy below, striped with brown or dusky. 
Geographical Distribution: North America to aretic circle; south in 
winter from 40° to Guatemala. 
Breeding Season: April, May, and June. 
Breeding Range: Throughout the United States and north to Alaska. 
Nest: Of small sticks, Jined with fibre of leaves, placed from 10 feet to 
60 feet high in a tree. 
Eggs: 4 or 5; dull greenish white or grayish green, irregularly marked 
with brown. Size 1.46 X 1.20. 
EQuaLLy at home in the dense shadows of the forest, 
on the treeless plains, or on the pine-covered mountain 
tops, the little Sharp-shinned Hawk requires but two 
things, — plenty of food and good water. Alas, that 
the food should preferably be small song birds! He is 
a dainty eater, also, stripping all feathers from his victim 
and refusing to swallow a bit of fur or a bone. This is 
the only good thing which can be said of him, for a bird 
more baleful to other feathered creatures, large and 
small, can nowhere be found. All laws protecting native 
ee 
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