Bird Study 



109 



holds its wings above its back, and comes down like a lump of lead, only 

 to catch itself whenever it chooses to begin again to climb the invisible 

 spiral. And all this is done without fatigue, for these birds have been 

 observed to soar thus for hours together without coming to earth. When 

 thus soaring the two species may be distinguished from each other by 

 their cries; the red-tailed gives a high sputtering scream, which Chapman 

 likens to the sound of escaping steam; while the red-shouldered calls in a 

 high not unmusical note "kee-you, kee-you" or "tee-ur, tee-ur." 



The popular fallacy for the teacher to correct about these birds, is that 

 they are enemies of the farmers. Not until one has actually been seen to 

 catch the chickens should it be shot, for very few of them are guilty of this 

 sin. Sixty-six per cent, of the food of the red-tailed species consists of 

 injurious animals, i.e., mice and gophers, etc., and only 7 per cent, con- 

 sists of poultry; the victims are probably old or disabled fowls, and fall 

 an easy prey; this bird much prefers mice and reptiles to poultry. The 

 more common red-shouldered hawk feeds generally on mice, snakes, 

 frogs, fish and is very fond of grasshoppers. Ninety per cent, of its food 

 consists of creatures which injure our crops or pastures and scarcely i% 

 per cent, is made up of poultry and game. These facts have been ascer- 

 tained by the experts in the department of Agriculture at Washington 

 who have examined the stomachs of hundreds of these hawks taken from 

 different localities. Furthermore, Dr. Fisher states that a pair of the red- 

 shouldered hawks bred for successive years within a few hundred yards of 

 a poultry farm, containing 800 young chickens and 400 ducks, and the 

 owner never saw them attempt to 

 catch a fowl. 



However, there are certain 

 species of hawks which are to be 

 feared; these are the Cooper's 

 hawk and the sharp-shinned 

 hawk, the first being very destruc- 

 tive to poultry and the latter kill- 

 ing many wild birds. These are 

 both somewhat smaller than the 

 species we are studying. They 

 are dark gray above and ha,ve very 

 long tails, and when flying, they 

 flap their wings for a time and 

 then glide a distance. They do 

 not soar on motionless outspread 

 pinions by the hour. 



When hawks are seen soaring, 

 they are likely to be hunting for 

 mice in the meadows below them; 

 their eyes are remarkably keen; 

 they can see a moving creature 

 from a great height, and can 

 suddenly drop upon it like a 

 thunder bolt out of a clear sky. 

 Their wonderful eyes are far- 

 sighted when they are circling in 

 the sky, but as they drop, the 



The red-tailed hawk. 



