FALCO COL VMBAR1 US. 
297 
Nuthatches, etc. that go trooping past; not with evil eye, however, for what do they want 
with feathered bipeds?—grasshoppers are more to their liking; so they dine heartily upon 
them. After the noon-time siesta, if it chances to be in the spring, they take a look at 
the hole where they have deposited their eggs for years past; then taking a short flight to 
some neighboring stub, they sup upon grasshoppers and return to roost in the old tree. 
This, without variation, is their lives: this, without variation, is their diet: a blue sky over¬ 
head; gentle, refreshing breezes blowing across the green woodland; nothing to do but to 
pick up grasshoppers of which they appear ne^er to tire. It is true that they can find 
green grasshoppers and brown grasshoppers, grasshoppers with wings and wingless grass¬ 
hoppers, but still, as far as any distinctive taste is concerned, there must be but little vari¬ 
ation; yet to all appearances, the Hawks are satisfied, for I never saw one take any other 
kind of food. 
With the Sparrow Hawks in the bleak North, all this is quite different; here they are 
obliged to work for a living and, although insects form a part of their food, they do not, 
in fact, cannot, subsist on this kind of diet alone; mice and other small mammals, little 
birds, and even reptiles are obliged to contribute to their latfder. Nor are these always 
easily gained; thus it is not infrequent to see a Sparrow Hawk hovering over a field, sus¬ 
pending himself on rapidly vibrating wings, and darting downward many times before his 
hunger is fully appeased. 
The Sparrow Hawks of Florida breed in the natural cavities of trees or in the desert¬ 
ed holes of Woodpeckers, often in trees which are inhabited by these latter named birds, 
and all live together upon good terms. The eggs are deposited by the middle of April, in 
this section, and a little later further north. The young leave the nest early in July and 
accompany their parents for some time, then separate into pairs. These Hawks are rather 
uncommon in Massachusetts, even in summer, and are quite rare in winter, for the great¬ 
er part migrate south of us. 
These little Hawks are quite gentle in confinement, when used well, making pretty as 
well as interesting pets and several that I had, became so familiar as to perch on my fin¬ 
ger in order to take food from my hand. 
FALCO COLUMBARIUS. 
Pigeon Hawk. 
Falco columbarius Linn., Syst. Nat., I; 1766, 128. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, rather robust. Size, medium. Sternum, stout, with the marginal indentktions quite large. Tongue, 
short, thick, quite fleshy, about the same width for nearly its entire length, horny at tip, where it is rounded, bifid, and 
grooved beneath. Tail, moderately rounded. Wings, with two outer quills incised. Tarsus, slightly feathered in front. 
There are usually no traces of any coeca. 
Color. Adult male. Above, including upper wing coverts, secondaries, and upper tail coverts, dark bluish-slate, 
every feather having a narrow, central, longitudinal line of black. Primaries, black, tipped with ashy-white. Tail, light 
bluish-ash, becoming'nearly white on the inner webs; it is tipped with ashy-white and crossed by a wide subterminal band 
of black, and also by several other narrower bands of the same-color. Forehead and throat, white. Remainder of under 
parts, including under wing coverts, under tail covert=, and tibia, pale buff, streaked with dark-brown. 
