THE LITTLE FALCON. 123 



These birds are spread over the whole extent of the 

 American continent and the neighbouring islands. In 

 the United States, according to Wilson, they are con- 

 stant residents, but are most abimdant to the northward 

 of Maryland. Many writers have spoken of them as 

 inhabiting the West India islands and especially Hispa- 

 niola, whence the species has been commonly known 

 by the name of the Saint Domingo Hawk. Mr. W. S. 

 MacLeay has lately sent home specimens from Cuba ; 

 Cayenne is given as its habitat by Brisson and BufFon ; 

 Paraguay by D'Azara; and the Straits of Magellan by 

 Captain King. In the United States it usually builds 

 in a hollow tree, and generally at a considerable dis- 

 tance from the ground ; but in the south it is said to be 

 more sociable, and D'Azara asserts that it will even 

 take up its abode in churches and other old buildings. 

 It lays from two to four or five eggs ; and the young 

 when hatched are fed with small birds, grasshoppers, 

 and mice, the usual food of the parent birds. 



Its flight, as Wilson describes it, is somewhat irre- 

 gular. Occasionally it suspends itself in the air, hovering 

 over a particular spot for a minute or two, and then 

 shoots ofl" in a ditferent direction from that which it 

 had previously taken. When it alights it closes its 

 wings with such rapidity that they seem instantly to 

 disappear, and sits perched in an almost perpendicular 

 position, sometimes for an hour at a time, frequently 

 jerking its tail and reconnoitring the ground below. 

 Suddenly it darts oft' into a thicket, almost as if at 

 random ; but always with a particular, and generally a 

 fatal, aim. It is besides constantly on the watch for 

 snakes, lizards, mice, and even grasshoppers, which 

 form, in the season when they are abundant, no small 

 portion of its food. It is not, however, without some 

 delicacy of taste, if we mav trust to an anecdote 



