2r2 Mearns oh the Amciican Sfxirrotv Harvks. fjn'v 



A STUDY OF THE SPARROW HAWKS (SUBGENUS 

 TINNUNCULUS) OF AMERICA, WFITI ESPEC- 

 IAL REFERENCE TO THE CONTINENTAL 

 SPECIES {FALCO SPARVERIUS LINN.)* 



BY EDGAR A. MEARNS. 



This subgenus has its centre of development in the tropical 

 portion of America, two of the threef known American spe- 

 cies being peculiar to the West Indian region, the third, Falco 

 ( Tinfiunctihis) sparverms^ extending from the equator south- 

 ward to the extremity of the Southern American continent, and 

 northward to Hudson's Bay and Alaska, exti-eme points in its 

 longitudinal dispersion being Unalaska and Pcrnambuco. These 

 species may be recognized by the^following : 



Synopsis of the American Species. 



A. Species having a single color phase — not dichromatic. Front and 

 auriculars distinctly whitish; back always entirely rufous, with or 

 without black bars or spots; with no conspicuous superciliary stripe of 

 white ; under surface of wing with the quills (usually) barred entirely 

 across with black and white. 



a. Vertex with or without a patch of rufous; tail of male with a single 

 subterminal zone of black; rump and anterior portion of back immacu- 

 late; spots of under surface small and i-ather sparse. 



I. Falco sparvert'us. Male: Top of head varying from light bluish 

 ash to blackish slate, usually without conspicuously darker shaft 

 streaks, particularly on the rusty crown patch, when present; wings 

 bluish ash, with a few small black spots. Female: Black bars of tail 

 narrower than the fulvous rufous interspaces; spots of under surface 

 reddish brown, tending to form longitudinal streaks. 



Habitat. — Whole of North and South America, straggling to the 

 West Indies. 



* The Sparrow Hawks of America are wholly different from the bird which bears 

 the same name in Europe. The latter belongs to the genus Acctpiter (the same 

 that includes our Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks), while the American Spar- 

 row Hawks belong to the subgenus Tinnuiiculus of Falco in which are included the 

 Kestrel, Red-footed Falcon, Lesser Kestrel, and other Old World species. 



t I have here adopted Mr. Ridgway's recent views (see 'The Auk," Vol. VUI, Janu- 

 ary, 1891, p. 113) in uniting Falco dominicensis Gmel. and F. sparverioidcs Vig.,of the 

 West Indies, as dichromatic phases of a single species, the material at my command 

 being insufficient to enable me to decide the question independently. 



