BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



and tail, black barred in the female, a bluish-gray cap and a 

 series of conspicuous black streaks on the head. The breast is 

 buff or rufous, more or less spotted with black, while the 

 throat and under tail-coverts are white. The bird is most use- 

 ful to the farmer as its food is chiefly insectivorous. When 

 grasshoppers are plentiful, it is interesting to see the sparrow- 

 hawks poise in air on fluttering wings and suddenly swoop 

 down to the ground to capture and devour these mischief- 

 makers. 



In spite of the common impression that hawks are pests 

 which should be exterminated, the fact is quite the reverse. 

 Nearly all hawks feed chiefly upon mice and other small mam- 

 mals, and upon the larger insects. The sharp-shinned hawk, 

 a little fellow scarcely larger than the sparrow-hawk, a swift, 

 impetuous and bold creature, is an exception to this rule, and 

 prefers the excitement of a chase after some luckless bird. 



Among our other hawks may be mentioned the beautiful 

 white-tailed kite, with its white head and breast and its bluish- 

 gray back, which contrasts with the black shoulder-patch and 

 spot under the wing; the marsh-hawk, generally found about 

 the bay shores or other marshy places, and easily recognized 

 by the conspicuous white patch on the upper tail-coverts; the 

 western goshawk, which is perhaps the most destructive to 

 chickens, a large, powerful bird, bluish-gray on the back and 

 with fine, wavy bars on the breast; and the red-bellied hawk, 

 an ally of the red-tail. Both the golden and bald eagles are 

 inhabitants of the wilder portions of the state. 



It does not require an expert ornithologist to tell an owl, but 

 to distinguish the different genera and species is not at all times 

 so easy. The American barn-owl, which is very like its 



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