210 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



broad belly band blackish-barred, and the thighs and lower tail 

 coverts rusty or reddish-brown; tail tipped with white and 

 crossed by about eight narrow, white bands. The young is 

 duller colored, with the back inclined to brownish. 



Length, 15-18; wing, 9|-lli; tail, 6|-8| ; tarsus, 1}; culmen, 1. 

 South America north to southern Texas and Arizona. 



31. American Sparrow Hawk (360. Fdlco sparvh-ius). — A 

 common, beautiful, little hawk, with much chestnut on back and 



tail, and usually on 

 crown also. The 

 wings are slaty- 

 blue, with black and 

 white barred prima- 

 ries, and the tail 

 has a black band 

 near the white tip. 

 The white cheek has 

 a black patch both 

 in front and behind 

 it. The under parts 

 are buffy, very 

 heavily streaked 

 with darker in the 



American Sparrow Hawli 



female. The wing coverts are slaty-blue in the male, and chest- 

 nut, barred with black, in the female. With almost all other 

 hawks the male is much the smaller bird, but in this species 

 there is but little, if any, variation in size. Generally the 

 sexes are colored alike, but in this case there is a decided 

 difference in markings. This is an insect-eating hawk, though 

 mice and small birds form part of its diet. (Eusty-crowned 

 Falcon ; Killy Hawk.) 



Length, 8|-12 ; wing, 6J-8 ; tail, 4^-6 ; tarsus, If ; culmen, |. North 

 America from the Rocky Mountains eastward ; breeding from the Gulf 

 States to Hudson Bay, and wintering from New Jersey southward. The 

 Cuban Sparrow Hawk (361. Fdlco dominicensis) , which has been found 

 casually in southern Florida, has the rufous coloring only on the breast 



