BIRDS OF PREY 



(360) Falco sparverius spar= 



verius Linn. (Lat., a sparrower). 



SPARROW HAWK. Smallest 

 of our hawks. Ad. c? — Plumage 

 as shown by the left-hand bird. 

 Upper parts largely bright rufous, 

 with short black bars on the back 

 and a broad band across the end 

 of the tail; under parts with round 

 black spots. Ad. 9 — U]5pcr parts, 

 including wings, rufous, barred com- 

 pletely with black; below streaked 

 with brownish. L., 10.50; W., 7.50; 

 T., 5-5°; Tar., 1.35. 



Range — Breeds throughout the 

 U. S. and Canada, east of the Rockies. 

 Winters from Mass. and Ohio south- 

 ward. (360c) LrrXLE SPARROW 

 HAWK (F. s. paulus), slightly small- 

 er, inhabits Fla. Peninsula. (361) 

 CUBAN SPARROW HAWK (l' 

 sparveroides) is casual in Fla. 



Large numbers of them migrate through our country to 

 their winter quarters from the Gulf States southward. As 

 usual with falcons, their flight is performed by rapid wing- 

 beats and short sailings. Their food consists of insects, such 

 as grasshoppers, crickets, larvae and dragon-fhcs, catching 

 the latter easily in spite of their swift and erratic flight; 

 they also kill a great many small birds and mammals. 

 Richardson's Merlin is a very pale-colored Pigeon Hawk 

 occurring locally from the plains to the Pacific coast. 



SPARROW HAWKS are the smallest of any of our hawks 

 or falcons. In summer, they are quite abundant throughout 

 the United States and southern Canada, their presence 

 being the more noticeable because they are most often 

 found in rather open, populated country. In winter, they 

 are most abundant along our Gulf coast and in Mexico, 

 although some remain as far north as Massachusetts, Iowa, 

 and British Columbia. Their food consists almost entirely 

 of grasshoppers at all seasons of the year; other insects are 

 occasionally found in stomachs dissected, and rarely even 



