XORTII AMERICAN BIRDS. 



221 



Here it may be seen hovering almost motionless in mid air, then suddenly swoop- 

 ing down to the ground, arises again with perhaps a field mouse in its talons. From 

 this habit it receives the name of Mouse Hawk, aitliough it also preys upon sparrows 

 and other small birds. It is found almost everywhere, though most abundant along 

 streams where the high sycamores whose natural cavities furnish suitable nesting 

 places, but meadows and fields are its retreats when in search of food. It builds no 

 nest, but deposits its eggs in the natural cavities of high trees, often in the deserted 

 holes of woodpeckers, or in crevices in rocks, in holes in banks along rivers, or nooks 

 about buildings. In the West it frequently occupies a deserted Magpie's nest. I 

 have eggs of this Hawk taken from a crevice in a stone quarry on the Scioto River, 

 where the birds have nested for years. Boxes on farm barns, provided for domestic 

 pigeons, are often appropriated by the Sparrow Hawk, and it always proves t 



360. AMERICAN SPARKOW HAWK. 



be a peaceable neighbor. The cavities where the eggs are deposited generally con* 

 tain BO lining. The eggs of the Sparrow Hawk are four or five, rarely six in num- 

 ber. A series of forty eggs before me exhibit the usual wide diversity of coloration 

 that is to be found in eggs with spotted shells. Most of my eggs are from Ohie, 

 Indiana and Kentucky, while two sets are from California. The ground color varies 



