Birds of Indiana. 797 



Msher). When the number of "English sparrows," mice and insects 

 it eats are considered, it seems to fall within the number of those 

 Hawks that are mostly beneficial. 



Subgenus Tinhunoolds Vleillot. 



*143. (360). Falco sparverius (Linn.). 



American Sparrow-hawk. 



Male. — Tail, chestnut rufous, crossed by a broad black band near 

 end; wings, grayish-blue, more or less spotted with black. Above, 

 rufous, with or without black bars or spots. Below, varying from 

 white to deep rufous, with or without black spots. 



Female. — Tail, wings and back, crossed by numerous narrow bands 

 of dusky. 



Length, 8.75-12.00; wing, 6.55-8.15; tail, 4.20-5.60. (Fisher). 



Eange. — America, from northern South America to Newfoundland 

 and Great Slave Lake. Breeds from Mexico and Florida, north. 

 Winters from New York and Indiana, southward. 



Nest, in hollow in tree or built among branches, or in cavity in cliff. 



JEggs, 3-7; clear white to pale buff, variously marked with different 

 shades of brown and ochra;eeous; 1.38 by 1.11. 



Regular resident north to Wabash, Tippecanoe and Carroll Counties, 

 In winter, rare north from there, more numerous southward. Every- 

 where common in summer. 



This little Hawk is well known, and no visitor to the country will 

 long await a sight of their busy forms. They begin to leave the north- 

 ern part of the State in September, and some winters all leave. Se- 

 vere vnnters they often seek protection; in one instance in January 

 one was found in a. stable, sharing a stall with a horse. Nowhere, 

 perhaps, are they so numerous in winter. In more open winters, their 

 numbers in the southern part of the State begin to increase in Feb- 

 ruary. Migrations then begin and continue through March. In the 

 Whitewater Valley I have always seen them mating in April.' I have 

 found their nest as early as April 11, but fresh eggs are found farther 

 northward well into May. 



A favorite nesting site is a Woodpecker's hole in a dead limb, at 

 the top of a tall sycamore tree. The usual nesting site, in timber 

 countries, is a hole, natural or otherwise, in the top of a tree; some- 

 times, however, they are made quite low. Other places, they occa- 

 sionally nest in holes in cliffs or banks, or in the nest of some large 

 bird, like a crow, and in buildings. In trees, the eggs are laid upon 

 fragments of chips in the hole. 



