306 FALCONS, CARACARAS, ETC. 



brown marked with shades of the same color, 1*65 x 1*20. Date, Bingham 

 Co., Idaho, May 13; Lab., June 2. 



"This Falcon, with the exception possibly of the Broad-winged 

 Hawk, is the least shy of all our diurnal birds of prey, and often may be 

 approached within a few rods. It frequents the more open country 

 and edges of woods, and is common along the shores of large bodies of 

 water. . . . The flight is very rapid and resembles that of the Wild 

 Pigeon quite closely; nor does the similarity end here, for while sitting 

 on a tree the general poise is that of a Pigeon in repose, and specimens 

 have been mistaken and shot for the latter bird. . . . 



"Of 56 stomachs examined, 2 contained poultry; 41, small birds; 

 2, mice; 16, insects; and 5 were empty " (Fisher). 



The MERLIN (358.1. Falco asalori) and the KESTREL (859.1. Falco 

 tinnunculus] , both Old World species, have each been recorded once from 

 Greenland. 



360. Falco sparverius sparverius Linn. SPARROW HAWK. Ad. &. 



Back rufous, more or less barred with black; tail rufous, a black band near 

 its end, the tip white; head slaty blue, with generally a rufous spot on the 

 crown; wing-coverts slaty blue, primaries barred with white; a black mark 

 before and behind the white ear-coverts ; underparts varying from cream-buff 

 to ochracepus-buff; belly and sides spotted with black. Ad. 9. Back, 

 tail, and wing-coverts rufous, barred with black; head as in the male; under- 

 parts more or less heavily streaked with dark ochraceous-buff. Im. Closely 

 resemble the adults. L., lO'OO; W., 7'30; T., 4'80; B. from N., '45. 



Range. N. A. e. of the Rocky Mts. Breeds from the Upper Yukon, nw. 

 Mackenzie, s. Keewatin, and N. F. s. to Tex. and the e. Gulf States (except 

 Fla.); winters from Kans., Ind., Ohio, and Mass. s. through e. Mex. to 

 Costa Rica. 



Washington, common W. V., rare S. R. Ossining, rather rare P. R. 

 Cambridge, P. R., common in summer, rare in winter. N. Ohio, common 

 P. R. Glen Ellyn, rather rare S. R., Mch. 10-Oct. 26. 



Nest, in a hole in a tree, frequently in a Woodpecker's deserted nest. 

 Eggs, 3-7, creamy white to rufous, generally finely and evenly marked with 

 shades of the ground color, 1*40 x 1*12. Date, Nazareth, Pa., Apl. 9; Cam- 

 bridge, May 5. 



An old stub or branchless trunk of a dead tree standing well out 

 in a field is the kind of perch the Sparrow Hawk most frequently 

 chooses. From this lookout, like a Loggerhead Shrike, he awaits the 

 appearance of game below. Generally it is a grasshopper which falls 

 his victim. When he detects one, he flies directly over it, and poises 

 on hovering wings until the right opportunity offers, when he drops 

 lightly downward, clutches his prey in his talons, and then returns to 

 his perch to devour it at leisure. 



The Sparrow Hawk's call is a rather high, quickly repeated killy- 

 killy-killy-killy, which in some sections gives it the name of "Killy 

 Hawk/' 



"Of 320 stomachs examined, 1 contained a game bird; 53, other 

 birds; 89, mice; 12, other mammals; 12, reptiles or batrachians; 215 

 insects; 29, spiders; and 29 were empty" (Fisher). 



