Widmann — A Preliminary Catalog of the Birds of Missouri. 93 



common summer resident in all parts of the state where culti- 

 vated fields alternate with remnants of high timber in which 

 it can make its home. There are no records of its occurrence 

 for the period from January 20 to February 19, and it is therefore 

 not safe to class it among the permanent residents, especially 

 since its presence during the whole time from October 30 to 

 March 28 is exceptional rather than the rule. Transient visitants 

 are most numerous from early in April to the first week of May, 

 and in fall from the middle of September to late in October. 

 Wholesale migration has been noticed from about the twentieth 

 to the twenty-sixth of September, when singly or in pairs they 

 have followed each other at intervals of a few minutes, from ten 

 to twenty being visible to the spectator, but, as they are known 

 to advance in a broad front, the whole movement must mean 

 the depopulation of a large district. This is the true chicken- 

 hawk for the depredations of which so many harmless species 

 have to suffer, and it is the only hawk that does enough damage 

 to warrant indiscriminate destruction with a view to total 

 extermination. Fortunately for this bold and clever marauder 

 this extremity is not to be expected for a long time to come, 

 as he knows how to take care of himself and his family. He selects 

 his hunting grounds miles away from his aerie, high up and far 

 out on the branch of an old tree in a quiet part of the woods. 

 Poultry raisers should know the different species of hawks; 

 they should know well the one that does most of the harm of 

 which so much capital is made in order to justify the murder 

 of each and every hawk. But as this is hardly possible, the 

 best plan would be to kill no hawk except the one caught in the 

 very act of making inroads on one's property. Since the worst 

 damage is done among young poultry, the owner should know 

 that the same hawk will come back for more after he has succeeded 

 in carrying off one ; he is likely to be back about the same time 

 of day and thereby offers an opportunity to watch for him with 

 gun in hand. Even if missed once or twice — and this may 

 happen to a good marksman — it will secure safety for one's 

 pets, as the cautious hawk will probably not return any more. 



334. AcciPiTER ATRiCAPiLLUS (Wils.). American Goshawk. 



Falco atricapillus. Astur atricapillus. Falco palumbarius. Astur palurti- 

 barius. 



Geog. Dist. — Breeds in northern North America in the wooded 

 districts north of the range of the Cooper's Hawk, south in the 



