On February 6, 1975, at approximately 3:15 p.m., we were returning from a handball game, walking east on Seventh Avenue South, Birmingham. As we approached the crest of a knoll between 13th and 14th Streets, we observed a small brown raptor flying northwest and steadily gaining altitude. When first noticed, the bird was about 15 feet above an asphalt-surfaced parking area that lay some 100 yards east of and 20 feet below us. The bird leveled off ond turned west after crossing Seventh Avenue, flying by us at an altitude of less than 60 feet (1.5 to 2 telephone poles). At closest approach, it passed north of us just across Seventh Avenue.