398 THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 



wings rusty-tinged, finely and irregularly barred with dusky ; crissum unmarked, 

 or merely touched with rufous ; iris, cere, and feet yellow ; bill and claws black- 

 ish. Females are perhaps less blue above, and duller or paler below. Immature : 

 Above dusky brown margined with rufous, concealed white cropping out in 

 streaks on forehead and hind neck, and in spots on scapulars, etc. ; below streaked 

 and spotted instead of barred, with pale browns (Vandyke brown, Front's brown, 

 etc.) and dusky, narrowly on cheeks and throat, more broadly on breast and 

 sides, — markings pandurate on sides of breast, cordate, tear-shaped, or various 

 below, sometimes transverse on flanks and shanks. Between this and the typical 

 adult plumage every gradation exists. Rather variable in size. Adult male length 

 10.00-12.00 (254.-304.8) ; wing 6.60 (167.6) ; tail 6.00 (152.4) ; bill from nostril 

 .40 (10.2). Adult female length 12.50-14.25 (317.5-362.); wing 8.00 (203.2); 

 tail 7.25 (184.2). 



Recognition Marks. — Little Hawk size; adult transversely barred, young 

 heavily streaked, below ; barring of under wing surface conspicuous in flight ; the 

 distinction between the breast patterns of adults and young must be borne clearly 

 in mind to avoid confusion. Like next species, but considerably smaller ; tail not 

 rounded. 



Nest, of sticks, twigs, and dried leaves; in trees at any height, or in hollow 

 trees and clifif crannies. Bggs, 2-5, bluish-, greenish-, or grayish-white, lightly 

 or heavily spotted, blotched, marbled, or clouded with various shades of brown. 

 Av. size, 1.53 X 1. 18 (38.9 X 30.). 



General Range. — North America in general, south to Fanama. Breeds 

 throughout its North American range. 



Range in Ohio. — "Common resident in Northern, less common in Middle 

 and Southern Ohio" (Wheaton). 



THE Hawks proper, of which this bird is a typical representative, may 

 lack the spectacular wing feats and noble bearing of the Falcons, but they 

 are still very bold and rapacious birds. Indeed, it would be hard to picture 

 a more alert and blood-thirsty creature than this sharp-taloned little Hawk 

 as it scours the brush patches or open fields in search oi feathered prey. 

 The flight of the Sharp-shin is at times as swift as an arrow and as direct, 

 but it is skilled in doubling and twisting, and no bird in the open escapes it 

 except by the merest chance. Coming upon a flock of blackbirds, the Hawk 

 makes instant choice of a victim and pounces like a flash upon it, either 

 snatching it in midair or bearing it to the ground and transfixing it with claws 

 which pierce the vitals and cause instant death. If unsuccessful in its first 

 attack, the Hawk will retire cjuickly to thick foliage and await with the 

 patience of a statue the first stirrings of the frightened quarry. The prey 

 when caught is held at "arm's length" until ciuite dead, and then either eaten 

 upon the spot or else carried up to some elevated perch. 



Occasionally one gets a perfect view of a Sharp-shinned Hawk as it 

 comes unexpectedly upon you in some woodland opening and takes a curious 



