262 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



positive proof that the species has been most unjustly 

 persecuted. The writer says: "Besides this very injurious 

 group of rodents, other small mammals, such as young 

 squirrels, young rabbits, shrews, and moles, are often 

 taken. Some authors insist that the red-shouldered hawk 

 is destructive to poultry, but the writer in all his field 

 experience has never seen one attack a fowl, nor has he 

 found the remains of one in the stomachs of those exam- 

 ined." Other observers, however, note that this hawk 

 does occasionally prey on stray fowls from the yard, but 

 this item is not of sufficient importance to warrant its 

 popular names of "chicken hawk " and "hen hawk." In 

 "Birds of Kansas," Colonel Gross says of this species on 

 this point that it is quite destructive to domestic fowls 

 raised in or near the timber, but does not appear to search 

 for food far away from its natural resorts. 



The red-shouldered hawk is commonly from two to 

 three weeks later in its nidification than the red-tailed 

 species. It seems that in this section the eggs are gener- 

 ally deposited between the first and the middle of April, 

 though there are frequent instances of later nesting. In 

 New England most first sets of eggs are found from the 

 tenth to the twenty -fifth of April. 



The basis of the nest is generally the work of crows in 

 preceding years, in which case the nest is usually re- 

 touched and a supply of feathers is added. When the 

 hawks are the builders, the nest is made of rough sticks, 

 husks, moss, and strips of bark, lined as the work pro- 

 gresses with feathers from the breast of the female. These 

 feathers are an important index of the progress of afi'airs 

 in this wild wood home, and they are often found adhering 

 to the bushes in the vicinity of the nest. The buzzard 

 hawks are noted for the attachment they demonstrate to 

 particular nesting sites. They seem to feel that there is 

 no place like home, for they will submit to spoliation year 

 after year and still return to the same site and attempt to 

 rear a brood. Colonel Goss says: "They seem to be greatly 

 attached to the grounds selected for a home, and vigilantly 

 guard the same, not allowing a bird of prey to forage 

 within their claimed limits; they also nest for years in 

 the same tree." 



