306 
FALCONS, CARACARAS, ETC 
brown marked with shades of the same color, 1*65 x 1’20. Date , Bingham 
Co., Idaho, May 13; Lab., June 2. 
“This Falcon, with the exception possibly of the Broad-winged 
Hawk, is the least shy of all our diurnal birds of prey, and often may be 
approached within a few rods. It frequents the more open country 
and edges of woods, and is common along the shores of large bodies of 
water. . . . The flight is very rapid and resembles that of the Wild 
Pigeon quite closely; nor does the similarity end here, for while sitting 
on a tree the general poise is that of a Pigeon in repose, and specimens 
have been mistaken and shot for the latter bird. . . . 
“Of 56 stomachs examined, 2 contained poultry; 41, Small birds; 
2, mice; 16, insects; and 5 were empty” (Fisher). 
The Merlin {358.1. Falco cesalon) and the Kestrel {359.1* Falco 
tinnunculus) , both Old World species, have each been recorded once from 
Greenland. 
360. Faleo sparverius sparverius Linn. Sparrow Hawk. Ad. dv — 
Back rufous, more or less barred with black; tail rufous, a black band near 
its end, the tip white; head slaty blue, with generally a rufous spot on the 
crown; wing-coverts slaty blue, primaries barred with white; a black mark 
before and behind the white ear-coverts ; underparts varying from cream-buff 
to ochraceous-buff ; belly and sides spotted with black. Ad. 9. — Back, 
tail, and wing-coverts rufous, barred with black; head as in the male; under- 
parts more or less heavily streaked with dark ochraceous-buff. 1m . — Closely 
resemble the adults. L., 10*00; W., 7*30; T., 4'80; B. from N., '45. 
Range. — N. A. e. of the Rocky Mts. Breeds from the Upper Yukon, nw. 
Mackenzie, s. Keewatin, and N. F. s. to Tex. and the e. Gulf States (except 
Fla.); winters from Kans., Ind., Ohio, and Mass. s. through e. Mex. to 
Costa Rica. 
Washington, common W. V., rare S. R. Ossining, rather rare P. R. 
Cambridge, P. R., common in summer, rare in winter. N. Ohio, common 
P. R. Glen Ellyn, rather rare S. R., Mch. 10-Oct. 26. 
Nest, in a hole in a tree, frequently in a Woodpecker’s deserted nest. 
Eggs, 3-7, creamy white to rufous, generally finely and evenly marked with 
shades of the ground color, 1*40 x 1T2. Date , Nazareth, Pa., Apl. 9; Cam- 
bridge, May 5. 
An old stub or branchless trunk of a dead tree standing well out 
in a field is the kind of perch the Sparrow Hawk most frequently 
chooses. From this. lookout, like a Loggerhead Shrike, he awaits the 
appearance of game below. Generally it is a grasshopper which falls 
his victim. When he detects one, he flies directly over it, and poises 
on hovering wings until the right opportunity offers, when he drops 
lightly downward, clutches his prey in his talons, and then returns to 
his perch to devour it at leisure. 
The Sparrow Hawk’s call is a rather high, quickly repeated killy - 
killy-killy-killy, which in some sections gives it the name of “Killy 
Hawk.” 
“Of 320 stomachs examined, 1 contained a game bird; 53, other 
birds; 89, mice; 12, other mammals; 12, reptiles or batrachians; 215 
insects; 29, spiders; and 29 were empty” (Fisher). 
