^'^Im"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 537 



and along the Qu'Appelle Valley (Macouu). Qu'Appelle : Tolerably 

 common ; arrives April 20 (Guernsey). 



On September 9, 1883, a flock of five or six Tigeon Hawks came 

 about the farm buildings. In general manners tbey were much like 

 Sparrow Hawks, but tbey sailed more and flapped less. They were of 

 course larger, and seemed more stoutly built ; their duller color also 

 was a distinguishing mark. 



One trick of flight they had in common with the Whisky John, Shrike 

 and others, namely, flying low over the ground towards a pos' or stump, 

 and just as one expects to see them strike the bottom of it there is a 

 sudden spreading of tail and wing, and the bird gracefully bounds 

 straight up to the top and alights there. This species will sometimes 

 hover, though they do not make such a practice of it as the Sparrow 

 Hawks. This maneuver I have also observed, though in a still less de- 

 gree, in the Peregrine. One collected was a female ; length 12, extent 

 25. All above was dark brownish gray; all below, buff heavily 

 streaked. Wings and tail show but few marks above; below are spot- 

 ted with buff; in crop, a sparrow; in stomach, another. This band 

 may have been a single family returning from their breeding place in 

 the wooded mountains to the east. 



120. Falco richardsonii. Richardson's Merliu. 



Very rare. One taken at headwaters of Mouse Kiver, Dakota, near 

 the boundary (Coues). Shot at Fort Pelly in September, 1881 (Ma- 

 coun). 



121. Falco sparverius. American Sparrovr Hawk. 



Abundant summer resident; very abundant from Pembina along the 

 boundary to the Rockies (Coues). One from between Hudson's Bay 

 and Lake Winnipeg; one individual at Red River settlement on 22d 

 April, in 1859 (Blakiston). Winnipeg: Summer resident; tolerably 

 common (Hine). Oak Point : 1884, arrived April 20 : 1885, first seen, 

 one, on April 15 ; is common and breeds here (Small). Portage la 

 Prairie: 1884, abundant summer resident; first appearance April 26, 

 departing in October (Nash). Carberry : Abundant summer resident 

 wherever there is large timber (Thompson). Very common; breeding 

 along Red Deer, Swan, and Assiniboine Rivers ; throughout the Winne- 

 pegosis region and in the various streams and valleys of the Northwest 

 visited in 1880 (Macoun). Shell River: 1885, first seen, one male, on 

 April 14; a transient visitant only (Calcutt). Qu'Appelle: Common; 

 summer resident; breeds; arrives April 15 (Guernsey). 



On July 20, 1884, while traversing the Carberry Swamp, I heard the 

 loud, reiterated screeching of the kestrel, and on looking upwards 

 saw one of these audacious birds following and dashing around an 

 eagle, and endeavoring by every means in his power to intimate to the 

 latter that his life was in imminent jeopardy — that, indeed, it was not 

 worth a moment's purchase unless he instantly left the neighborhood 



