SPARROW HAWK 297 



At Dudley, east of Coulterville, on July 16, 1920, a family of nearly 

 full-grown young was perched about on the branches of a dead pine, the 

 young 'whinnying' whenever the parents came their way. In Yosemite 

 Valley a nest was located high up in a rotted-out cavity of a black oak, 

 north of the village. 



Near Lagrange on December 23, 1915, a pair of sparrow hawks was 

 seen pestering a shrike. Every time the latter put its head out of the 

 thick bush in which it had sought safety, first one hawk and then the 

 other would dart at it. Since the shrike could not be seen to have any- 

 thing in its bill it could hardly have been attacked by the hawks on other 

 grounds than as an object of prey. The hawks finally desisted and left 

 the shrike in peace. Curiously, the same behavior was noted on the part 

 of another pair of sparrow hawks and a shrike on the same day. It might 

 be mentioned, also, that in two cases American Sparrow Hawks were seen 

 pursuing the much larger Red-tailed Hawks, as if to drive the latter from 

 the neighborhood. 



The effective role of the sparrow hawk in checking the increase of 

 certain kinds of animals and its consequent importance to farming inter- 

 ests, where these interests are dominant, is suggested by the contents of 

 the digestive tract of a bird taken in Yosemite Valley on October 25, 1915. 

 The dilated esophagus contained the heart, liver, and lungs of a meadow 

 mouse (MicroUis), while the greatly distended stomach held parts of a 

 meadow mouse and of a shrew, a grasshopper, and 20 moth larvae aver- 

 aging three-fourths of an inch long. As comprising one evening meal this 

 mass of material certainly seemed adequate to last until morning I 



American Osprey. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (Gmelin) 



Field characters. — Those of a bird of prey; size slightly larger than for Red-tailed 

 Hawk. Whole under surface of body including under surface of wings, pure white; 

 upper surface uniform brown; head chiefly white, but with blackish streak behind eye. 



Occurrence. — Transient. Eecorded from Yosemite Valley, and from Smith Creek, 

 6 miles east of Coulterville. 



The only American Osprey ('fish hawk') observed by our party was, 

 on June 8, 1915, seen to fly, in Yosemite Valley, from the east past the 

 base of El Capitan, and to alight for a minute, before continuing its west- 

 ward journey, on a dead-tipped pine. When the bird was in flight the 

 great expanse of narrow wing was noticeable, as was also the pure white 

 under surface; as the bird perched, the back of the head was seen also 

 to be conspicuously white. 



The osprey probably visits the Yosemite region only casually, during 

 migration. Mr. Donald D. McLean says that the species is seen occasion- 

 ally in spring at Dudley, on Smith Creek, east of Coulterville. 



