By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

EW YORK -- ...Someone, for some reason, wants the city's pigeons dead. 

More than 200 of them have been killed in recent weeks on the Upper East Side and in midtown Manhattan, the authorities said, poisoned by someone spreading seed or bread crumbs laced with a lethal pesticide that can pose a serious health risk to people.

The poisonings, first reported Friday in The New York Post, also led to the deaths of several sparrows. And a red-tailed hawk that made its home in Central Park died last month after eating a poisoned pigeon, officials said.

"We feel that this is just someone who truly hates pigeons and could be a very disturbed person," said Peter Paris, a spokesman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "They may not stop at pigeons. Who knows what other animal they may dislike?"

The poison can be fatal to humans. Monday, the city's Health Department plans to issue an alert to the public warning of the danger, particularly to small animals and children.

Post-mortems on pigeon bodies by the state's Department of Environmental Conservation have identified the lethal substance as carbofuran, a highly toxic agricultural pesticide that is banned in New York City. Carbofuran, sold under the trade name Furadan, can be bought and used in other parts of the state by people with the proper credentials.

The unlikely appearance of carbofuran in an urban area has led investigators from the ASPCA, the Police Department, and the Parks Department to conduct an intense hunt for an apparent serial pigeon killer.

Since Oct. 3, clusters of dead pigeons have been found at eight locations on the Upper East Side and in midtown. Of those, Mr. Paris said, carbofuron deaths have been confirmed at four locations. The ASPCA has also received an unconfirmed report of a dog dying from carbofuran poisoning. 

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