AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK 



Top of head reddishTbrown fringed with black; back 

 reddish-brown streaked with black ; wings dark slate above and 

 lighter slate on under side ; tail reddish-brown with black band 

 near the end and the tip white ; throat white ; under parts buff 

 with black spots. Length, ten inches. 



Nest, in cavities of trees, often in Woodpeckers' holes. 

 Eggs, four to six, white or buff and specked with reddish or 

 brown spots, 1.40 x 1.10 inches. 



This is the smallest of the Hawks. Early in April he 

 comes up from the Southern States where he winters. Taking 

 possession of a hole in a tree, he begins housekeeping. The 

 male cheerfully bears his part with his mate in brooding the 

 eggs and feeding the young. The same nest is used year after 

 year. The eggs are hatched in about fifteen days and the little 

 Hawks are fed at first with grasshoppefs, crickets and bugs, 

 but later they take kindly to a diet of mice, small snakes and 

 other birds. 



The reputation of this species of Hawks and of some 

 others suffers injury because one or two kinds pick up a few 

 of the farmer's chickens now and then. By examining the 

 stomachs of over three hundred Sparrow Hawks, one scientist 

 found nothing to prove them guilty of eating chickens ; but he 

 did discover that they destroy large numbers of mice, reptiles, 

 small birds and insects. 



The favorite resort of the Sparrow Hawk is the top of a 

 dead tree standing well out in a field. Here he waits and 

 watches for prey. Now he leaves his lofty perch and, flying 

 away for several rods, hovers gracefully in the air for a few 



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