THE HAWKS. EAGLES, KITES. AM) VII/niiES. i>()7 



for ^Tassliopjx^'rs, and from cxaniiiialioiis of many slomaclis 

 it is safe to say that each bird dnrin^- Ihe grasslioj)i)(_T season 

 destroys at least two Inmdred of tlie i)ests each day. They 

 very rarely attack poultry or birds of any kind, and unques- 

 tionably deserve the protection of the liusbandman. 



Of the various birds to which the name hen-liawk is occa- 

 sionally applied it is least deserved by the Rough-legged Hawk. 

 All the evidence obtainable goes to show that this species is 

 not in any sense a hen-hawk, but that instead it is a mouse- 

 hawk, feeding almost exclusively upon meadow-mice. Forty 

 out of forty-nine stomachs examined at the United States 

 Department of Agriculture contained mice, while five of them 

 contained such small mammals as shrews, gophers, rabbits, 

 and weasels, one contained nisects and a lizard, and four 

 were empty. No poultry or birds of any kind were found. 

 Similar testimony from many other sources has been pub- 

 lished ; in Massachusetts hundreds of these birds were killed 

 along the Connecticut River, and all the stomachs examined 

 contained only meadow-mice ; in Oregon, Utah, and Nebraska 

 fielcl-mice are reported as the staple chet, while cotton-tail 

 rabbits, gophers, and other annuals are also included in the 

 bill of fare. 



The rough-legged liawk is a northern bird in sunnner, as 

 a rule visiting the United States only in winter. It is said 

 generally to keep south of the snow line in order to cai)ture 

 its favorite prey more easily. It hunts in the twilight, watching 

 for victims from some low perch or slowly flying over meadows 

 and marshes it breeds in the far North. 



The typical form of the Red-shouldered Hawk is common 

 in the Eastern States and closely related rac(>s are found in 

 the South and West, though the bird is absent from Ihe 

 Great Plains re-ion. 1( breeds throughout its range, tlie nest 

 being built in early s{)ring in the upi)er branches of some tall 

 tree, and a brood of from three to live young being reared. 

 This is a heavy, slow-flying hawk, an adept at catching mice 



