158 EEPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



Family BUTEONID-^. 



The Hawks and Eagles. 



These are the typical birds of prey with their powerful curved claws 

 and beak. The family as a whole has gotten a bad name with the 

 farmers as destroyers of poultry, but all intelligent men to-day should 

 be willing to set aside the prejudice of generations and accept the 

 results of modern scientific investigation into the food habits of these 

 birds, which shows beyond the possibility of a doubt that, with the 

 exception of two of our Common Hawks and one or two of those 

 which visit us at rare intervals, these birds are of the greatest benefit 

 to us, living almost entirely upon mice and larger insects. The most 

 familiar species, the large Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, 

 commonly but erroneously called "Chicken Hawks," and the Marsh 

 Hawk, are in fact our very best friends. 



The injurious species are the long-tailed more slender species, the 

 Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Goshawk.^ 



a. Tarsus feathered down to the toes. 



h. Wing over 20. Golden Eagle, p. 165 



hh. Wing under 18. Rough-legged Hawk, p. 164 



aa. Tarsus not feathered, its front covered with small rounded scales like the 

 sides and back. Fish Hawk, p. 168 



aaa. Tarsus not feathered, its front covered with broad transverse plates dif- 

 ferent from the small granular scales on the sides and back. 

 6. Tail deeply forked, outer feathers 12 to 14 long. 



Swallow-tailed Kite, p. 159 

 hh. Tail not forked. 



c. Wing over 20. Bald Eagle, p. 165 



cc. Wing under 18. 



d. Head bluish-slate, centered with rufous. 



Sparrow Hawk, p. 167 

 dd. Head not slaty and rufous. 



e. Rump white. Marsh Hawk, p. 160 



ee. Rump not white. 



/. Upper parts slaty-gray. 



g. Below white, transversely mai'ked with dark 

 slate and somewhat streaked with blackish. 



Goshawk, p. 162 

 gg. Below white, barred with rusty and slightly 

 streaked with the same. 

 h. Wing over 8.75. Cooper's Hawk, p. 161 



^ The species of the families Falconidae and Pandionidse are included in the 

 key so as to cover all the Hawks and their allies. 



