AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. 
Falco sparverius. 
Char. Adult male : head bluish ash, with reddish patch on crown, and 
black patch on sides and nape ; back rufous ; wings bluish and black in 
bars ; tail tawny, with black band, and tipped with white ; below, huffish or 
tawnv. Female ; rufous and black, more streaked than the male ; the 
tail tawny, with several blackish bars. Length to to ii inches. 
Nest. Usually in cavities of trees, often in Woodpecker’s holes, some- 
times in deserted nest of a Crow. 
Eggs. 5-7 ; huffish, occasionally white, blotched with dull red and 
brown; 1.33 X 1-12. 
This beautiful and singularly marked bird appears to reside 
principally in the warmer parts of the United States. They are 
particularly abundant in the winter throughout South Carolina, 
Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, whither they assemble from 
the remote interior of the Northern States, wandering in sum- 
mer as far as the Rocky Mountains, and were even seen by 
Dr. Richardson in the remote latitude of 53° ; these appear, 
however, to be only stragglers, nor do they seem at all to visit 
