File:Birds and nature (1906) (14752306995).jpg

Identifier: birdsnature31906chic (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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hey fly down, even alighting under thevery horses for an instant in their en-deavor to capture an unearthed mouseor insect. The Sparrow Hawks hunt for theirfood both on the wing and while quietlyperched. They will often fly across afield or meadow, now and then instantlystopping their swift flight and hoveringwith moving wings over a spot wherethey mistrust the presence of their prey,they may suddenly perceive it and dropto the ground. If successful, the objectcaught in their talons is carried to someperch and devoured. Their favoriteplace when hunting for prey from aperch, is a dead, branchless tree trunk,or a stub at the border of woods or pre-ferably in the open field. Telegraphpoles and their cross bars, especially inthe western portion of their range, arefavorite perches of these handsomeHawks. They may also perch upon thewires. From these points of observation,they closely watch the ground and whenthey see their prey, it may be a grasshop-per or a mouse, they quickly fly down in
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142 AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. (Falco sparverius). % Life-size. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO pursuit and rarely fail to catch the ob-ject they are after. They seize grasshop-pers with their talons, even when theyare caught while the birds are flying.The nesting habits of the SparrowHawks are very various and interesting.Major Bendire has said, Like most ofour Raptores the Sparrow Hawk, I be-lieve, remains paired throughout life, atany rate they certainly appear to be al-ready so on their return from their win-ter homes. The common nesting sitesof these birds are holes in trees, thesemay be natural or those made and aban-doned by the larger of woodpeckers. Thecavities selected are not often lower thantwenty feet above the ground and theyare very often located near the tops ofvery tall trees. The western forms ofthe Sparrow Hawk have been known touse deserted nests of magpies. This maynot seem strange, as Dr. Fisher has said, •for we might expect the entrance inthe side of th

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