426 BIRDS-——FALCONIDZA. 
erous black bars; wing coverts in the male ashy-blue, with or without black spots, im 
the female like the back; quills in both sexes blackish with numerous pale or white 
bars on inner webs; tail chestnut, in the male with one broad black subterminal bar, 
white tip, and outer feather mostly white with several black bars; in the female the 
whole tail with numerous imperfect black bars; below white variously tinged with buff, 
or tawny, in the male with a few small black spots or none, in the female with many 
brown streaks ; throat and vent nearly white and immaculate in both sexes; bill dark- 
horn, cere and feet yellow to bright orange; 10-11; wing, 7; tail, 5, moro or less. 
Habitat, the whole of North America and southward. 
Abundant summer resident from April to November, and in part resi- 
dent throughout the year. 
This Hawk, the smallest and most beautiful of the family, is further 
distinguished from most if not all the others by the color differences 
between the sexes. It is the most abundant species of the family, and 
does not appear to be decreasing with cultivation, as is the case with 
most others. It is found almost everywhere, though most abundantly 
along the borders of streams where the high sycamore trees furnish 
suitable nesting places, or about low fields. The telegraph wires along 
railroads furnish favorite perches from which they may watch for and 
pounce upon small birds, mice and large insects, which constitute their 
food. 
Dr. Coues, from whom I have culled many pleasant paragraphs, thus 
moralizes over the Sparrow Hawk: 
‘“Few, if any, of our birds are more widely dispersed, fuw are better known, and cer- 
tainly no Hawk is regarded with less disfavor. Too small of frame—though stout 
hearted enough, I warrant—to commit depredations in the farm-yard; subsisting on 
small insectivorous birds, it is true, but also destroying countless field-mice and noxious 
insects, he is to be held a benefactor to the agriculturist. The prettiest and jauntiest of 
our Hawks, and yet no prig; a true Falcon, if a little one, with as noble mien and as 
much pluck as the best among his larger brethren, we can but admire him. No Hawk 
is more abundant in the West. Go where we may, in summer or winter, we shall see 
him hovering over the fields, or perched, erect and motionless, on his outpost, sweeping 
the ground below with keen, audacious eye. It is a treacherous calm; the ardor of the 
Falcon grows with restraint. An unlucky Sparrow flirts in yonder bush, and gives a 
flippant chirp—whish! and it is all over. Poor, little, rollicking Sparrow! this is no 
easier for you to bear, because it is a ‘‘law of nature,” as we say. Who is ever quite 
ready for the last? What pang is taken away when the ery it extorts is drowned ina 
sea of like lamentation? We theorize best before the Falcon’s talon strikes.” 
Solitary individuals, and these, so far as my observation extends, always 
females, are not unfrequently seen here throughout the winter, remain- 
ing in the same neighborhood through the season. 
The nest of the Sparrow Hawk is placed in cavities of high trees, either 
natural or holes deserted by Woodpeckers. The eggs, usually five in 
