Plate XLIX. 



Fig. I TINNUNCULUS SPARVERIUSSparrow Hawk. 



The Sparrow Hawk is to a certain extent a permanent resident of the State, especially in the south- 

 ern section ; many of them, however, are only summer residents, going south as winter comes on, and 

 returning again at the first approach of spring. The site for the nest is usually chosen in April, and 

 sometimes even in March, but cold weather may delay oviposition until several weeks later. Ordinarily, 

 only one brood is reared by a single pair during the season. 



LOCALITY: 



The eggs are placed in a hollow in a dead stump, limb, or trunk of a tree; usually along the border 

 of a stream or pond, or in a low field. The large sycamores in river bottoms are much frequented nest- 

 ing places. In upland districts, a tree along a ditch or pond is generally selected in preference to others. 

 Occasionally, the nest is in a tree at the edge of a woods; but rarely, if ever, is it any considerable dis- 

 tance within woods. A natural cavity, such as is frequently seen at the extremity of a broken limb, or 

 the deserted home of any of the large Woodpeckers, answers equally well for the location. The majority 

 of nests are undoubtedly in abandoned Woodpecker-holes, as these are much more numerous than artifi- 

 cial cavities of suitable size. 



POSITION : 



The nest is usually between twenty and fifty feet from the ground; but, sometimes, it is near the top 

 of a giant sycamore, and at others in a low stump. 



MATERIALS : 



The Sparrow Hawk rarely, if ever, carries material for its nest — being satisfied to place its eggs 

 upon the decayed wood which usually covers the bottom of the chosen site. Several years ago I found 

 a nest containing five eggs, which had considerable material, mostly grasses, arranged in an irregular mat 

 upon the floor of the cavity. This material may have been carried by a Bronzed Grackle or a Blue- 

 bird, and the site afterward abandoned, or the birds may have been driven off by the Hawks before 

 their nest was completed. 



EGGS: 



The complement of eggs varies from four to seven, four or five is the number usually deposited. 

 Mr. Audubon found a set containing seven. They vary in long-diameter from 1.30 to 1.45, and in short- 

 diameter from 1.05 to 1.23. A common size is about 1.10 x 1.37. The ground-color of the shell varies, 

 in different specimens, from chalky white to burnt sienna of various shades of intensity; and the mark- 

 ings vary in color from a yellowish-brown to a reddish-brown, and in size, from a minute speck to a 



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