Handsome Eggs of the Sparrow 
Hawk. 
In a large series of eggs one is almost sure 
to see one or more sets that are especially 
handsome. So it is with the series of eggs 
of the Sparrow Hawk ( Falco sparverius) now 
before me. The series consists of thirty-one 
sets, and was selected with great care to ex- 
hibit all the variations to which the eggs of 
this bird are subject. I thought this object 
had been accomplished before the arrival of 
the set I now desire to refer to, but the latter 
was so entirely different from all the others that 
it took me completely by surprise when it was 
unpacked. 
The eggs were collected March 29, 1889, at 
Archer, Florida, and are unquestionably to be 
referred to this bird, but they are entirely 
different from any others that I have ever seen. 
Their ground color is a pure, dazzling white, 
and large portions of their surface are entirely 
unmarked. Now this is very different, to begin 
with, from all other sets of eggs of this bird 
that I have ever seen, and they number 
several hundred. In other sets the ground 
color is so covered with very minute specks of 
color as to impart a reddish hue to it — some- 
times quite obscuring it, but this characteris- 
tic is entirely wanting in these. Then, too, 
the markings are of a brighter tint on these 
eggs than on any others of F. sparverius that 
have come under my notice. They consist of 
large blotches and spots of very bright hazel 
and cinnamon-rufous, made doubly bright by 
their contrast with the pure white ground 
color, and the entire absence of the minute 
specks above referred to. 
On three of the eggs these blotches and 
spots are grouped at the larger ends; on the 
fourth they are at the smaller ends; while the 
fifth has them on the centre of the surface. 
Four of the eggs are of normal size, measur- 
ing 1.35x1.07; 1.28x1.10; 1.29x1.10; 
1.39x1.11; while the remaining one is very 
large, it measuring 1.50x1.19. 
Every one who has seen them has pro- 
nounced them to be the handsomest eggs of 
this bird they have ever seen, and I cannot 
help sharing their opinion, although it is not 
good taste to express admiration for one’s own 
belongings. J- P- ■ 
6 ■ 
A Philadelphia Collection of Eggsof 
the Eaptoree. 
Tinnunculus sparverius. Sparrow Hawk. One 
set of six, fourteen sets of five, twelve sets of 
four, one set of three. Total: twenty-eight 
sets, one hundred and twenty-seven eggs. 
0,&0. XIV. Mar. 1889 p.45 
Collection of Raptores Eggs. J.P.K. 
Sparrow Hawk, 
-.‘ 5 , 12 - 4 , 14 - 5 , 1 - 0 , 28 V27 
O.&O. XV. Apr. 1090. p. CG 
