THE SPARROW HAWK. 19 



fir-trees, twelve feet from the ground; eggs three, dull 

 yellowish-brown, with dark reddish-brown blotches." 



A single egg before me, kindly loaned for descriptions 

 and figure by George A. Boardman of Milltown, Me., is of 

 the above color. It is admirably figured, fig. 1, plate I., 

 in this volume. It is a trifle more pointed than the eggs 

 of rapacious birds usitally are, and measures 1.50 inch in 

 length, and 1.14 inch at its greatest breadth. 



TINNUNCULUS SPARVERIUS. Vieilkt. 

 The Sparrow Hawk. 



Falco sparverius, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 128 (1766). 



Falco dominicenses, Gm. Syst. Nat., I. 285 (1788). 



Falco gracilis, cinnamoninus, and isabellinus. Sw. Cab. Cy., p. 281 (1838). 



DESCRIPTION. 



Adult. Frontal band and space, including the eyes and throat, white ; spot on 

 the neck behind, two others on each side of the neck, and line running downwards 

 from before the eye, black ; spot on the top of the head, the neck behind, back, 

 rump and tail, light rufous or cinnamon color; under parts generally a paler shade 

 of the same rufous as the back, frequently nearly white, but sometimes as dark as 

 the upper parts, and always with more or less numerous circular or oblong spots of 

 black ; quills brownish-black, w,ith white bars on their inner webs ; tail tipped with 

 white, frequently tinged with rufous, and with a broad subterminal band of black, 

 outer frequently white, tinged with ashy, and barred with black; bill light-blue; 

 legs yellow ; back generally with transverse stripes of black, but frequently with 

 very few, or entirely without ; rufous spot on the head, variable in size, and some- 

 times wanting. 



Younger Male. Upper parts as above ; wing coverts and tail ferruginous red, 

 with numerous transverse bands of brownish-black; under parts with numerous 

 longitudinal stripes, and on the sides with transverse bands of brownish-black; 

 external feathers of the tail palest ; broad subterminal band on the tail, obscure or 

 wanting. 



Young. All the rufous parts of the plumage with wider transverse bands of 

 brownish-black; wing coverts, dark bluish-cinereous, with large circular spots 

 of black ; under parts with longitudinal stripes, and large circular spots of black ; 

 iris very dark hazel. 



Tofal length, eleven to twelve inches ; wing, seven to seven and a half; tail, five 

 to five and a half inches. 



This beautiful little hawk is a summer inhabitant of all 

 the New-England States, and, in the more southern districts, 

 a resident throughout the year. It is a not very common 

 species, hardly a half-dozen birds being seen in these States 



