The American Sparrow Hawk 



By William Dutcher 



Synonym. — Rusty-crowned Falcon. 



Description. — Adult male: Top of head slaty blue, with a rufous crown- 

 patch ; sides of head and throat white, a black stripe from the lower eye-lid an- 

 teriorly, proceeding obliquely downward ; a similar transverse bar on the side of 

 the neck, and a dab on either side and sometimes in the middle of the cervix ; 

 back, scapulars, and tail rich rusty red; strong black bars in variable quantity 

 across the middle of the back and lower scapulars, or rarely reaching cervix ; a 

 heavy subterminal black band on tail, the central feathers tipped with rufous 

 and the others with white; the wing-coverts and inner quills (including second- 

 aries) slaty blue, the former black-spotted and the latter crossed by a heavy black 

 bar ; primaries blackish, the point of wing formed by the second ; the first sharply 

 emarginate on the inner web, the second slightly so ; all the wing-quills heavily 

 spotted with white on the inner webs, these spots confluent in bars on the under 

 surface; below whitish or slightly tinged, immaculate on lower belly, flanks, and 

 crissum; elsewhere (save on throat, as noted above) lightly tinged or heavily 

 shaded with rufous, — the fore breast usually but not always unmarked, the sides 

 and middle belly very lightly or quite heavily spotted with black, l^ill bluish 

 black; cere and feet yellow. Young mate: Similar to adult, but lower scapulars 

 and wing-quills lightly tipped with white ; not so heavily shaded with rufous 

 below. Adult female: Subsimilar, but wings like the back; the black barring 

 regular and continuous over entire back, wings (except quills), and tail, — the 

 tail having ten to twelve bars, but the subterminal bar often larger ; barring indi- 

 cated narrowly across upper tail-coverts; below not tinged with rufous, but 

 streaked instead with rusty brown; the sides sometimes barred with blackish. 

 Young female: "Similar to adult, but colors softer, deeper, and more blended" 

 (Ridgway). Adult male length, 9 to 10^^ inches. 



Recognition Marks. — Robin size, but appearing larger. The black markings 

 about head, and rufous of upper parts distinctive. 



Range. — North America east to the Rocky Mountains, and from Great Slave 

 Lake south to northern South America. 



The handsome appearance of this little Falcon, together with its comparative 

 fearlessness and gratifying abundance, make it rather the best-known bird of 

 prey throughout the state. It is to be found almost anywhere, and pays us fre- 

 quent visits in town, but its favorite perch is a dead tree-top or stub at the edge 

 of the woods, or a telegraph pole commanding an unobstructed view. From 

 these points of vantage the birds attentively watch the happenings on the ground 

 and dive down whenever they think their presence is needed by mouse or grass- 

 hopper. Much time is spent also on the wing, passing rapidly from wood to 

 field, or flying slowly across a promising meadow, and pausing frequently at a 

 good height to study a suspicious movement in the grass below. A Hawk will 



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