262 AMERICAN SPARRO W-HA WK. 



AMERICAN SPARROW-HAWK. (Falco sparverius.) 



PLATE XVI.— Fig. 1, Female. 



Emerillon de St Domingue, Buff. i. 291, PI. enl. 465.— Aret. Zool. 212.— Little 

 Falcon, Lath. Syn. i. p. 110, No. 94, lb. 95. — Peak's Museum, No. 389. 



FALCO SPARVPBIUS.—LmxMus. 



Falco sparverius, Bonap. St/nop. p. 27. — Falco sparverius, Little Rusty-crowned 

 Falcon, North. Zool. ii. p. 31. 



In no department of ornithology has there been greater con- 

 fusion or more mistakes made than among this class of birds 

 of prey. The great difference of size between the male and 

 female, the progressive variation of plumage to which, for 

 several years, they are subject, and the difficulty of procuring 

 a sufficient number of specimens for examination ; all these 

 causes conspire to lead the naturalist into almost unavoidable 

 mistakes. For these reasons, and in order, if possible, to 

 ascertain each species of this genus distinctly, I have deter- 

 mined, where any doubt or ambiguity prevails, to represent 

 both male and female, as fair and perfect specimens of each 

 may come into my possession. According to fashionable 

 etiquette, the honour of precedence, in the present instance, is 

 given to the female of this species ; both because she is the 

 most courageous, the largest and handsomest of the two, best 

 ascertained, and less subject to change of colour than the 

 male, who will require some further examination and more 

 observation before we can venture to introduce him. 



This bird is a constant resident in almost every part of the 

 United States, particularly in the States north of Maryland. 

 In the southern States there is a smaller species found, which 

 is destitute of the black spots on the head ; the legs are long 

 and very slender, and the wings light blue. This has been 

 supposed by some to be the male of the present species ; but 

 this is an error. The eye of the present species is dusky ; 



