156 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Dec. 



THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK MIGRATION. 

 By W. E. Saunders, London, Ont. 



Point Pelee is a place of surprises. One never knows what 

 to expect, but can always feel sure that there will be something 

 doing in the bird line, and frequently that something is of un- 

 expected and absorbing interest. 



My visit of September 18th, 19th and 20th happened to be 

 just the very time to see the celebrated Sharp-shinned Hawk 

 migration from its inception, and thereby to realize more easily 

 the effect it has on other bird life. When we arrived on the 17th, 

 we were told that the hawk flight was not "on" and on the next 

 morning, we found that this was quite true. There were, of 

 course, a few hawks drifting down from the north and crossing 

 the lake, as there always are in fall but there were not a very 

 great many, while on the other hand there were large numbers 

 of small birds. We recorded, that day, 68 species of birds, of 

 which four were hawks, and among these were 100 Sharp- 

 shins, which always comprise the bulk of the early flight. Other 

 birds were there in numbers; for instance, we recorded 300 

 Waxwings, 150 White-throated Sparrows, 100 Ruby-crowned 

 Kinglets, 80 Flickers and 50 Olive-backed Thrushes. 



The wind, that night, was strong from the west and the 

 temperature rather high. The next morning, we found the hawks 

 very much augmented in numbers, recording six species, in the 

 following numbers, 250 Sharp-shins, 10 Marsh, 10 Cooper's, 2 

 Pigeon, 1 Duck, and 1 Osprey. The results of the presence of 

 so many Sharp-shins was strikingly visible among the small 

 birds, reminding us forcibly of the old automobile joke, which 

 stated that the quick were those that got out of the way of the 

 automobile, and the dead were those that did not. Some of the 

 birds were apparently wise and got out of the wa}-. 



Although the Ruby-crowned inigration was just beginning, 

 we saw none after the first day. The White-throated Sparrows 

 dropped from 150 to 20, and the Olive-backed Thrush, which 

 divides with the Cuckoo the doubtful honor of being the 

 favorite food of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, also dropped to 20, 

 and there was a similar diminution in the numbers of almost 

 every species, while the total number of species observed, which 

 was 68 on the first day, was 31 on the second day. 



On the third day the conditions became extreme. I was in 

 the observatory from 6 until nearly 10. The Hawk flight began 

 about 6.15 and was unabated when I left. The rate of flight can 

 be imagined by the fact, that when I undertook to count 100 

 passing me, the task occupied only eleven minutes. A few of 



