Bnniiom I0te on latttra i listorj. 



Vol. II. PROVIDENCE, AUGUST 1, 1885. No. 8. 



Kntered at the Providence Post-Offiee as Second-Class Matter. 



A Monthly Devoted to the Distribution of Use- 

 ful Knowledge Concerning the Various De- 

 pa ktments OF Zoology, Mineralogy, and 

 boTANY. 50 Cents a Year. 

 Address all communications to 



SOUTHWICK & JENCKS, 

 258 Westminster St., Providence, K. I., U. S. A. 



Notes on Food of Raptorial Birds. 



BY CHARLES DURY. 



The hawks and owls are popularly re- 

 garded as veiy injurious birds, and alwaj's 

 killed when opportunity' presents itself. 



The food of many species varies much 

 with the season, and it is rather astonish- 

 ing that our resident species are enabled to 

 find subsistence during very severe winter 

 weather. I give, in a brief manner, the re- 

 sult of the dissection of the bodies of the 

 following species, from my note-book of 1884 

 and 1885 : 



Red-Shouldeued Havs^k {Buteo lineatus). 



Dec. 4, 1884. Male. Filled with grass- 

 hoppers. Bird killed near Winton Place. 



Nov. 13, 1884, Male. The stomach was 

 filled to distention with grasshoppers {Calop- 

 tenus femer rahrum). 



Dec. 2. Male. Filled with grasshoppers 

 and mice. Several others examined during 

 winter, contained mice. 



The remarkable fact here is, that this spe- 

 cies feeds on grasshoppers, and can find 

 them as late as Dec. 4th. 



Bald Eagle (Haliaetus leucocephalus). 



Nov. 10. Young female contained fish. 



Jan. 15. Young (veiy large) female 

 contained balls of rat-hair. 

 Rou<;ii-Le(;ged Hawk {Archibuteo lacjopus). 



Jan. 15. Female. Stomach filled with 

 parts of four large field mice. 



Jan. 27. Male. Filled with mice. 



This is rather a rare bird in this locality. 



Great Horned Owl {Bubo Virr/inianus) . 

 Several exninined were empt\', but the 



stomach of one male on May 13th, contained 

 a few feathers, a small bunch of hair, and a 

 beetle ( Lachnoaterna fasca) . 



Nov. 20. Female." CoiiUiined a quail. 



Nov. 24. Male. Contained part of a 

 chicken. 



Barred Owl {Syrnium nehulosum). 



Nov. 11. This bird contained a partly- 

 digested screech-owl (Scops Asio)^ feathers, 

 body and feet. 



Nov. 30. Male. Contained mice. 



Jan. IG. Female. Contained mice. 



Jan. 16. Male. Stomach contained 

 part of a red-bellied woodpecker, including 

 head and bill. 

 Short-Eared Owl {Brachyotis 2Xtlustns). 



Nov. 9. A male was filled with mice — 

 several others contained mice. 



Nov. 11. A female contained two Euro- 

 pean sparrows, for which service she de- 

 served a better fate than to be shot. 



Cooper's Hawk {Accijnter Cooperii) . 



May 1 1 . Stomach contained young bird. 



May 24. Male. Stomach contained 

 partly-digested hermit thrush. 



Feb. 7. Stomach contained one European 

 sparrow. 



Barn Owl (Strix Flammce). 



Since my paper published in the Journal, 



Dec, 1883, several others have been taken 



in this vicinity ; in all of them were mice 



and their remains. 



Sharp-Shinned Hawk {Accipiter fascus) . 



Jan. 18. A sharp-shinned hawk, a.male, 

 pursued a European sparrow into a store on 

 Third Street, this city, and captured the 

 sparrow inside the store. The door was 

 closed and the hawk secured alive. 



Screech-Owl {Scops Asia) . 



This species has been unusually abundant ; 

 veiy many have been examined. I enumer- 

 ate a few of these. 



April 10. Male. Filled with insects, 

 mostlv beetles. 



