170 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA 



margins of groves in which 'Suitable nesting crevices or woodpecker 

 holes are available in which to nest, he is conspicuous in his livery of 

 rusty red and slaty blue, the black cheek-bands suggesting strings to 

 his bluish, rust-crowned hood. He even allows such close approach 

 at times that the horn-blue of his bill and the yellow of the cere and 

 feet may be seen. 



The sharp cry has been well described as resembling "killy-killy- 

 killy-killy" uttered in a rather high key, and once heard is easily rec- 

 ognized again. 



They arrive in Iowa by the latter part of March or the first of 

 April, and soon select a new nesting site or resort to one previously 

 used. Although rarely found with us during the winter, Mr. G. H. 

 Berry of Cedar Rapids brought the writer one that was killed in the 

 month of January while pursuing English Sparrows. 



The flight of the Sparrow Hawk is characterized by periods of 

 hovering with wings in motion, somewhat like the Osprey, while 

 awaiting the proper moment for a strike. 



In some cases the nest is at no great altitude, and again a cavity 

 forty or fifty feet above ground will be chosen. Mr. Frank C. Pel- 

 lett of Atlantic has had them nesting in boxes which he put up for 

 the purpose. They are known to nest in dove cotes and one pair was 

 found nesting in the cornice of the old "Cooper Mill" on Cedar river 

 at Cedar Rapids, while still another nested at the top of the steeple 

 of the Congregational Church in Iowa City. Professor Lynds Jones 

 reports finding them occupying old Crows' nests, which they used 

 with very little change. In cavities there is little or no nesting ma- 

 terial provided on which to deposit the eggs. Both birds are said to 

 assist in incubation. That they are faithful is shown by the fact that 

 the female will sometimes refuse to leave the eggs until forcibly re- 

 moved. A set of three eggs of the Sparrow Hawk collected by Mr. 

 G. H. Berry, April 20, 1892, from a Flicker hole in an elm near Ely, 

 was obtained only after the female had been lifted from the nest. 



Observers in the field and laboratory investigators who study the 

 stomach contents of these hawks, agree as to the great usefulness of 

 these birds to the farmer. Insect diet greatly predominates, and 

 grasshoppers seem to be a staple article of food. Mice also are taken 

 in numbers, as well as a few birds, among which sparrows (notably 

 English Sparrows) are conspicuous. 



In not one stomach of 320 reported by A. K. Fisher, was there 

 found a trace of poultry 



