BIRDS OF THE CAMBRIDGE REGION. 1 93 



91. Falco sparverius Linn. 

 American Sparrow Hawk. Sparrow Hawk. 



Formerly an uncommon transient visitor in spring and autumn ; now a permanent resi- 

 dent, common during the breeding season, rare and perhaps not always present in winter. 



NESTING dates. 



May 5 — 10. 



The pretty little Sparrow Hawk has apparently added itself to our local 

 summer fauna within comparatively recent times. At least the earliest record 

 of its breeding within the Cambridge Region of which I have any knowledge is 

 that which was established by the finding of a nest at Waverley on May 26, 1877. 

 Previous to that year we had seen the bird only during migration when it was 

 somewhat less common than the Pigeon Hawk. Of course we may have over- 

 looked it in summer, but this does not seem probable. 



The nest just mentioned contained five eggs far advanced in incubation. 

 It was found by Mr. M. Abbott Frazar and the Messrs. E. A. and O. Bangs in a 

 FUcker's hole near the top of a tall dead sycamore which stood in a hollow by 

 the roadside not far from where the buildings of the Convalescent Home have 

 been since erected. All the eggs were taken, and one of the parent birds was 

 killed. 



Eleven years later — on May 12, 1888 — a second nest, also containing five 

 eggs, was found in one of the Waverley Oaks by Mr. Frank Bolles. On July 

 17, 1889, I saw a family of young Sparrow Hawks in Payson Park. After this 

 the birds increased in numbers and extended their local distribution. Since 

 189 s they have bred more or less regularly at six or seven different places in 

 Cambridge, Belmont and Watertown. In Cambridge they are chiefly confined 

 to the region immediately about Fresh Pond, where nests have been found in 

 Gray's Woods and in the old trees on the Tudor estate. I fear that the birds 

 have reared but few young since their presence in this neighborhood has become 

 generally known, for their nests are not difficult to find and their eggs are too 

 beautiful to be often spared by collectors. 



Most of the Cambridge Sparrow Hawks apparently migrate southward in 

 autumn, returning in early spring, but single birds have been noted every month 

 of the year in the neighborhood of Fresh Pond and Mount Auburn, where it is 

 probable that one or two usually remain during at least the greater part of the 



