EAGLES, HAWKS, AND KITES 



73 



proportion of the poultry and game captured by it 

 and the other buzzard Hawks is made up of old, 

 diseased, or otherwise disabled fowls. It is well 

 known to poulterers and owners of game pre- 

 serves that killing off the diseased and enfeebled 

 birds, and so preventing their interbreeding with 

 the soinid stock, keeps the yard and coveys in 

 good condition and hinders the spread of fatal 

 epidemics. It seems, therefore, that the birds 

 of prey which catch aged, frost-bitten, and dis- 

 eased poultry, together with wounded and crip- 

 pled game, are serving both farmer and sports- 

 man. 



Abundant proof is at hand to show that the 

 Red-t;iil greatly prefers the smaller mammals, 

 rejitiles, and batrachians, taking little else when 

 these can be obtained in sufficient numbers. If 

 hard pressed by hunger, however, it will eat any 

 form of life, and will not reject even offal and 

 carrion ; dead Crows from about the roosts, 

 poultry which has been thrown on the compost 

 heap, and flesh from the carcasses of goats, sheep 

 and the larger domesticated animals are eaten 

 at such times. Immature Hawks are more apt 

 to commit depredations than adults, the reason 



])robably being that they lack skill to procure 

 sufficient quantity of their staple food. A large 

 proportion of the birds eaten consists of ground- 

 dwelling species which probably are snatched up 

 while half concealed in the grass or vegetation. 

 .\mong the mammals most often eaten and most 

 injurious to mankind are the arboreal and ground 

 squirrels, rabljits, voles and other mice. The 

 stomachs of the Red-tailed Hawks examined 

 contained the Abert squirrel, red squrrrel, three 

 species of gray squirrels, two species of chip- 

 munks. Say's ground squirrel, i)latcau ground 

 squirrel, Franklin ground squirrel, striped 

 ground squirrel, harvest mouse, common rat, 

 house mouse, white-footed mouse, Sonoran 

 white-footed mouse, wood rat, meadow mouse, 

 pine mouse. Cooper lenmiing mouse, cotton rat, 

 jumping mouse, porcupine, jack rabbit, three 

 races of cottontails, jxniched gopher, kangaroo 

 rat, skimk, mole, and four kind ; of shrews. The 

 larger insects also, such as grasshoppers, crickets, 

 and beetles, are sometimes extensively used as 

 food. 



A. K. Fisher, in The Food of Hawks and 

 Ou'ls. 



9. 



r 



>,*■ * - <: 









Photograph l>y C< 



YOUNG RED-TAILED HAWK 



