128 OUR WINTER BIRDS 



no nest; but lay their eggs in holes in trees, or in 

 openings or ledges in cliffs. The Sparrow Hawk 

 selects a hollow limb, enters it from the top or 

 through a knot hole or doorway drilled by a Wood- 

 pecker, and returns to the same place year after 

 year. The three to seven brownish eggs are laid in 

 April or early May. The young birds don at once 

 the characteristic plumage of the male or female, 

 as the case may be. The male, it will be observed 

 (Fig. 7) , has one bar in the tail, while in the feniale 

 there are seven or eight. The female is streaked 

 below from bill to tail with reddish brown, while the 

 male has the breast tinted with brownish and the 

 sides and abdomen spotted with black. One can 

 always tell a Sparrow Hawk by its small size, brown- 

 ish color, black markings about the head and habit 

 of perching in exposed places in the open, and, with 

 the aid of glasses, it is generally possible to say 

 whether it Is a male or female. 



The Sparrow Hawk's call is a high, rapidly re- 

 peated "Killy, killy, killy," which in the south gives 

 it the name of "Killy Hawk.^' This note is given 

 on the wing, especially by the male in the mating 

 season. I do not know whether it is also uttered by 

 the female. 



