Kites, Hawks, Eagles, etc. 



found on the ground in thickets and the borders of woods. But 

 it does not eat the farmer's broilers : the little sharp-shinned and 

 the Cooper's hawk attend to them. However, the average farmer, 

 who confounds the sins of the former with the far slighter 

 offences of the sparrow hawk, shoots the bird that destroys 

 more enemies to his prosperity than he could guess. Of the 

 three hundred and twenty stomachs of the sparrow hawk ex- 

 amined by Mr. Fisher for the Department of Agriculture, two 

 hundred and fifteen contained grasshoppers or other large insects, 

 eighty-nine contained mice, and not one contained poultry. 



Unlike other birds of prey, the sparrow hawk builds no nest, 

 but lays in the hollows of trees, crevices of rocks, or even about 

 outbuildings on a farm; but a deserted woodpecker's hole is its 

 ideal home. Although this bird arrives from the south in March, 

 it does not nest until May, when from three to seven cream or 

 fawn-colored eggs, finely and evenly marked with reddish brown, 

 are carefully tended by both the mates that remain lovers for life. 



American Osprey 



(Pandion halia'etus carolinensis) 



Called aho: FISH HAWK 



Length — Male 2 feet, or a trifle less ; female larger. 



Male and Female — Upper parts dusky brown, the feathers edged 

 with white as a bird grows old; head and nape varied with 

 white and a dark stripe on side of head; under parts white; 

 the breast of male sometimes slightly, that of female always, 

 spotted with grayish brown; tail with six or eight obscure 

 dark bars. Bill blackish and with long hook; iris red or 

 yellow; long, powerful feet, grayish blue. 



Range— Wox\\\ America from Hudson Bay and Alaska to northern 

 South America and the West Indies; nesting throughout its 

 North American range. 



Season — Summer resident, March to October, except in southern 

 part of range. 



Is there a more exhilarating sight in the bird kingdom than 

 the plunge of the osprey ? From the height where it has been 

 circling and coursing above the water, it will quickly check itself 

 and hover for an instant at sight of a fish swimming near the 



332 



