40 BIRDS OF ARKANSAS. 



specimen which was killed in Lawrence County. One was shot in 

 January, 1896, from a fence in the town limits of Helena. It is 

 known to breed rarely near that town and also in the big swamps 

 west of Wilmot, where a specimen was killed in June, 1910, by Mr. 

 E. M. McGormick. 



This bird is seldom found far from lakes or streams, where it can 

 obtain its favorite food. In addition to fish, which form more than 

 half its food, it destroys many birds, chiefly water fowl, and con- 

 siderable numbers of mammals, mainly the smaller kinds, and the 

 young of larger species. Occasionally it attacks domestic animals, 

 such as lambs and pigs. Oberholser, after treating exhaustively of 

 its food habits, concluded that it "is rather more beneficial than 

 otherwise." 1 



Duck Hawk. Falco peregrinus anatum. 



This bold and attractive falcon, although never abundant, was in 

 former years locally common in the Mississippi Valley, nesting 

 usually about cliffs, but occasionally also in cavities in tall trees in 

 the bottom lands. Widmann gives numerous records of its former 

 occurrence in Missouri, but considers it now decidedly rare and 

 probably only a migrant. The only record from Arkansas seems to 

 be one published by Bendire on the authority of Mr. B. T. Gault, 

 who reports the bird nesting in the spring of 1888 in the sandstone 

 bluffs along the Little Red River in Cleburne County. 2 The duck 

 hawk feeds almost exclusively on birds, and when living in the 

 vicinity of settlements often does serious damage to poultry and 

 pigeons. 



Pigeon Hawk. Falco columbarius . 



The pigeon hawk nests chiefly north of the United States, but is a 

 rather common migrant and winter resident in the Southern States. 

 In 1890 it was reported rare in the vicinity of Clinton, one being seen 

 on January 20, another February 18. Hanna saw one in December, 

 1910, near Van Buren. There are no other records from the State, 

 but the bird is doubtless of regular occurrence in fall and winter. 

 The food of this little hawk consists chiefly of the smaller wild birds 

 up to the size of a pigeon, with the addition of a few insects and 

 small mammals. It almost never attacks full-grown poultry, but is 

 sometimes quite destructive to young chickens. 



Sparrow Hawk. Falco sparverius. 



This handsome little hawk — the smallest of its tribe — is a fairly 

 common resident, nesting in hollow trees about open fields. In 

 winter it is perhaps even more common than in summer, for its 

 numbers are at that season increased by migrating individuals from 



i Bull. 27, Biol. Survey, p. 16, 1906. 2 Life Hist. N. Am. Birds [I], p. 294, 1892. 



