[2.06] BIRDS OF OREGON 



Sharp-shinned Hawk. It is a rather tame and unsuspicious little falcon, 

 often allowing an observer to walk directly beneath its perch on a tele- 

 phone pole or small tree. Several of our specimens and records have been 

 obtained in such situations. 



One bird taken by Harold Dobyns near Arlington on December 2.2., 

 192.7, had eaten a Horned Lark. 



Eastern Sparrow Hawk: 



Falco sparverius sparverius Linnaeus 



DESCRIPTION. "Adult male: Top of head bluish or slaty, with or without rufous 

 crown patch; cheeks with two black stripes; back rufous, with or without black 

 bars or spots; wings bluish gray; tail rufous, with black subterminal band; under 

 parts varying from white to rufous, with or without black spots. Adult female: 

 similar, but back, wings, and tail barred with dusky. Young: similar to adults, but 

 colors more blended and in male feathers of upper parts edged with whitish. 

 Male: length 8.75-10.60, wing 7.16, tail 4.73, bill .50. Female: length 9.50-11.00, 

 wing 7.57, tail 5.14, bill .50-. 5 5." (Bailey) Nest: In old woodpecker holes or 

 natural cavities in trees. Eggs: 2. to 5, from pure white, faintly marked, to deep 

 buff, spotted and blotched with brown. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from Upper Yukon, British Columbia, northwestern 

 Mackenzie, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, northern Ontario, Quebec, and 

 Newfoundland south to northwestern California, Colorado, Texas, and Gulf States. 

 Winters from southern British Columbia, Kansas, Indiana, central Illinois, Ohio, 

 Ontario, and Massachusetts, south to Panama. In Oregon: Very common permanent 

 resident throughout State. 



SINCE NEWBERRY (1857) first listed the Eastern Sparrow Hawk (Plate 

 31, ff) as an abundant Oregon species, many ornithologists have com- 

 mented on its presence. This handsome little falcon is without doubt the 

 most abundant raptorial bird found in the State and is a familiar sight 

 to most travelers as it perches on the telephone poles along the high- 

 ways, now and then darting to the ground to get a mouse, a beetle, or a 

 grasshopper detected by its keen eyes. In addition to hunting for its 

 prey in this fashion, it often hovers over a field on rapidly beating wings 

 while carefully scanning the area below for some evidence of an edible 

 tidbit. It is most abundant from March to September but remains com- 

 monly through the winter in all parts of the State except the higher 

 mountains. It has been noted in every county. 



The nests are built in holes in trees, often in old excavations made by 

 the flicker. Egg dates vary from April 2.6 to June 2,0, most of those taken 

 being from eastern Oregon where it is easier for the collector to find 

 nesting sites than in the dense timber of western Oregon. 



