11 



interest iu agriculture. It can be safely said that this so-called " Hen-Hawk " has 

 never killed a head of poultry at any time, nor do they ever kill birds of any sort. 

 During the fall of 18!J5 these hawlvs were very abundant in southern Ontario and 

 large numbers were killed. I obtained all the bodies I could for the purpose of 

 investigating the contents of their stomachs, and I spent much time in watching 

 their habits whilst feeding. All day long, every day from the first of October of 

 that year to ^N'ovember 28th, the birds were constantly passing slowly through 

 southern Ontario, feeding as they went, and not one fowl was taken or attacked by 

 them anywhere, so far as I could learn, and I made enquiries from poultry keepers 

 wherever I could. In all, 32 specimens were examined by me, and the result 

 corroborated my previous experience. In one stomach I found a frog, in another 

 the flesh of a muskrat — taken from a pile of bodies of these creatures which had 

 been thrown together in Ashbridge's Marsh. Another stomach was filled with 

 large grass-hoppers, and the rest contained mice, and nothing but mice, or traces 

 of them, ranging in quantity from a little fur and a few bones to seven whole ones. 

 From this it cau be judged whether or not the Rough-legged Hawk is the friend of 

 the farmer. 



The attention of the Department of Agriculture at Washington was some time 

 ago called to the fact that mice and other destructive rodents were largely increasing 

 throughout the United States, and it was suggested that the constant destruction 

 of the hawks and owls was the reason for it. In consequence of this the Depart- 

 ment placed the matter in the hands of Dr. Merriam and Dr. Fisher, two of the 

 leading ornithologists of America, with instructions to prepare a report on the 

 subject. This they have done, and the result of their investigations, which I shall 

 give at the end of this chapter, shows conclusively that all the hawks which I have 

 referred to as being beneficial to agriculture are of the greatest possible val'ue in 

 ridding us of enormous numbers of destructive animals, and they are practically 

 innocent of the commonly urged charge against them of poultry-killing. 



Tliere is only one more species of hawk to be considered, and that is the 

 beautiful little Sparrow Hawk, probably the commonest of all our hawks, and which 

 may be distinguished from any of the others by its smaller size and red back. It 

 may be constantly seen hovering over fields in Ontario, all through the summer, 

 for it breeds with us, raising its young in a convenient hole in a tree, frequently 

 choosing one that has been deserted by one of the large woodpeckers. The very 

 small size of this bird precludes the idea that it can take a full grown fowl, or even 

 a pigeon, and I have never known in my own experience that it has even taken a 

 young chicken. Its principal food consists of mice and grasshoppers, of both of 

 which it consumes immense quantities, but it does occasionally take wild birds, 

 more particularly those which frequent the open fields and skulk in the grass er 

 run about the stubble. The birds taken hv this species are, however, so few com- 

 pared to the number of mice which it destroys, and so much good is done in 

 reducing the swarms of grasshoppers which infest our fields, that we may well for- 

 give its slight trespasses, the balance of good over evil being so great that this bird 

 deserves our protection. The following shows the result of the investigation made 

 bv Dr. Fisher at the request of the Department of A<rriculture of the United 

 States : 



Red-tailed Haivl-. 562 stomachs examined: 5+ contained poultrv or game 

 birds: 51. other birds; 409, mice and other animals: 37, reptiles, etc.: IT. insects; 

 9, crawfish, etc. ; 13, ofFal ; and 89 were empty. 



