94 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Nov. 



SOME HABITS OF SWAINSON'S HAWK IN MANITOBA. 



By Norman Criddle, Treesbai^k, Man. 



Swainson's Hawk (Buteo Swainsoni), is essentially a bird of 

 open woodlands or hilly country. It prefers a mixture of the 

 two for nesting purposes, and the open gopher-infested plains 

 for a hunting ground. Reaching us rather later in the spring 

 than most of our other hawks, it almost immedietaly sets about 

 selecting a nesting site, the place chosen being usually either a 

 scrub oak or an isolated aspen poplar. Occasionally, however, 

 the birds abandon their usual practice and select a hill instead of 

 a tree for nesting purposes, even when trees are available. On 

 the plains farther west they do not have so much choice in the 

 matter, and in conseqtience they are obliged, if they nest at all 

 in such places, to be contented with a hill or river bank. 



As I have previously pointed out, on several occasions, 

 there are few more useful hawks, in our Canadian west, than this 

 species. Years ago, in his "Birds of Manitoba," Thompson 

 Set on suggested the name gopher hawk for this bird, and I know 

 of no more fitting title. This does not suggest, however, that 

 these birds live only on such animals. Those of us who know 

 them well are aware that they are by no means partial in th?s 

 choice. Young grouse, meadowlarks and other birds certainly 

 form a portion of their diet, as do also, occasionally, young 

 poultry. But oVjservation also teaches us that at least 80 per 

 cent of the food is made up of noxious rodents, and that is surely 

 an excellent showing, well entitling the bird to protection. 



In former times these handsome dashing hawks frequented 

 the plains in considerable numbers, seeking and obtaining an 

 easy living among the gopher population. As time went on, 

 however, the persecution they were subjected to by farmers and 

 others greatly thinned their ranks, so that to-day they are re- 

 stricted to a few isolated or unsettled districts, where they are 

 permitted to rear their young in comparative safety. I am 

 pleased to say that one such district occurs in the neighbourhood 

 of my home, it being situated on one of the Dominion timber 

 reserves. It is there that I have been privileged to watch the 

 birds for a number of years past, and have gleaned some interest- 

 ing information relating to their habits and life history. Some 

 of this information I have already related in a previous volume 

 of The Ottawa Naturalist. I shall here, therefore, chiefly 

 confine myself to some observations made last summer, •. hile 

 I was out on some of my usual Sunday afternoon rambles. 



