sparrowgrass (sparogras)

[A corruption, self a corruption of sparagus for asparagus.] Asparagus. [Prov. or vulgar.] - French sparrow-gra , the sprouts of the spiked star-of-Bethlehem, Ornithogalum Pyrenaicum, sold to be eaten as asparagus. Prior, Popular Names of British Plants. [Prov. Eng.] sparrow-hawk (spar'ō-hak), n. [Also contr. sparhawk; sparrow gra , of sparagra , IMG:content-1642.jpg:[graphic] row, + hafoc, hawk: see names sparrow and hawk1. For the D., G., and Rom. for 'sparrowhawk,' see under sparrow.] 1. One of several small hawks which prey on sparrows and other small birds. (a) A hawk of the genus Accipiter or Nisus. In Great Britain the name is appropriated to A. nisus, or Nisus fringilla European Sparrow-hawk (Accipiter nisus). rius, about 12 inches long, closely related to the sharp shinned hawk of America. (b) In the United States, a hawk of the genus Falco and subgenus Tinnunculus, especially F. (T.) sparverius, which abounds in nearly all IMG:content-1643.jpg:[graphic] American Sparrow-hawk ( Falco sparverius ), adult male. parts of the country, and is known in books as the rusty crowned falcon and prairie - hawk. It is 10 or 11 inches long, and from 20 to 23 in extent of wings. The adult is ashy-blue on the crown, with a chestnut spot; on the back cinnamon-rufous, the male having few black marks or none, and the female numerous black bars. The wing coverts in the male are ashy-blue, usually spotted with black: in the female cinnamon barred with black. The tail is bright-chestnut, in the male with a broad subterminal black band, and the outer feathers mostly white with black bars; in the female barred throughout with black. The under parts are white, variously tinted with buff or tawny, in the male with few black spots if any; in the female with many dark-brown stripes. The bill is dark horn-blue; the cere and feet are yellow or orange. It is an elegant and spirited falcon, breeding in hollows of trees, building no nest, but often taking po e ion of a woodpecker's hole. The female lays five, six, or seven sparrow-hawk sub spheroidal eggs, 14 inches long by 14 inches broad, of a buffy or pale-yellowish ground-color, spotted and splashed all over with dark brown. Several similar sparrow-hawks inhabit America, and various other species, of both the genera named, are found in most parts of the world. 2. In silver- working, a small anvil with two horns (one flat-sided and pyramidal, the other conical in form), held between the knees of the workman, for use in flanging, making bezels, IMG:content-1644.png:[blocks in formation] 5799