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AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. 
AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. — FALCO SPARVERIUS. 
Plate XVI. Fig. 1 Female. 
Emerillon de St Domingue, Buff. i. 291, PI. enl. 465. — Arct. Zool. 212. — Little 
Falcon, Lath. Syn. i. p. 110, No. 94. Ih. 95 Peale's Museum, No. 389. 
FAL CO SPAR VERIUS. — LiNNiEUs. 
Falco spai’verius, Bonap. Synop. p. 27. — Falco sparverius, Little Rusty-crowned 
Falcon, North. Zool. ii. p. 31. 
In no department of ornithology has there been greater 
confusion, 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 farther 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 ; 
