Scrub Jay and Sparrow Hawk Roosting in Cabin
Scrub Jay and Sparrow Hawk Roosting in Cabin.-In the course of field work in eastern San Diego County, California, we made the following observations on roosting behavior. At 9: 1.5 p.m. on July 23, 1946, we entered the screened porch of a deserted cabin in a dry wash two miles east of Jacumba. Here we found two Scrub Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) roosting singly on a horizontal supporting beam beneath the roof. One jay was captured with the aid of a butterfly net; the second, aroused by this activity, escaped through a rent in the screen.
As we entered the main room, a Sparrow Hawk (F&o sparverius) took wing and was netted immediately and then released. The behavior of this hawk upon its release seems of interest, and we quote from our field notes:_ “The hawk struck a defensive pose as soon as it was on the ground, backing away from the powerful flashlight, seemingly blinded. The bird fluttered a few feet and then, outside the circle of light, took flight with steady wingbeats, flying westward.”
The cabin apparently offered more adequate roosting cover than did the sparsely foliated desert willow, creosote bush, and cat-claw of the surrounding area.-KEITH L. DIXON and PHILIP H. KRUTZSCH, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, March 11, 1948.
