BIRDS OF PREY 161 
360a. DESERT SPARROW HAWK. — Falco sparvertus 
deserticola. 
Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. 
Length: Male 9.00-11.00 ; female 10.00=12.50. 
Adults: Top of head pale grayish brown, usually with rufous crown- 
patch ; back light reddish brown, with or without black spots ; wings 
all grayish brown ; tail reddish brown, with dark band ; under parts 
whitish to buff, with or without brownish spots. 
Young: Similar to adults, but colors more blended. 
Geographical Distribution: Western United States and British Columbia, 
south to Guatemala. 
Breeding Range: Wherever resident throughout the State of California. 
Breeding Season: April. 
Nest: In holes, usually in dead trees. 
Eggs: 2 to 5; white, marked with shades of brown. Size 1.36 x 1.12. 
Next to the marsh hawk, the handsome little Sparrow 
Hawk is the one oftenest met with in California. From 
his lookout on a dead tree at the edge of the meadow, 
he watches for his prey. A slight movement in the 
grass, and out he flies, poises over the spot like a king- 
fisher over the water or a humming-bird at a flower 
tube, then swiftly he drops with feet extended, strikes 
the moving object, and rises with it in his talons. If he 
has neither mate nor young in the nest, he carries the 
tidbit to his dead-tree perch and eats it himself. But 
when his home, in an old stump near by, is filled with 
hungry nestlings, he flies directly to it with every morsel 
he picks up. Sometimes it is a field mouse, sometimes 
grasshoppers, lizards, or frogs, and sometimes, alas! 
small birds. 
Although so small, he has the courage of his race, and 
often captures prey at least twice his own weight, man- 
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