LIST AND DESCRIPTION - 85 
343. Broap-wincep Hawk (Buteo platypterus.) 
This bird is only fairly common in South. Dakota. Its 
range is farther east. Size fifteen to eighteen inches, the female 
larger. Upper parts dark brown; feathers on nape white at base; 
under parts irregularly barred with white and buff; under tail 
with two white bands and a white tip. The young are usually 
much darker both above and below. The belly is not barred 
but is streaked with blackish brown and tawny. On September 
25, 1915, a young specimen was sent to the University Museum 
and, upon examination, the crop and stomach showed the fol- 
lowing contents: thirteen large grasshoppers, two field mice, and 
one frog. These would be sufficient food for this Hawk for not 
more than one day. A similar supply would be used daily 
throughout August and September, when mice and grasshoppers 
are most destructive to ripening crops. The Hawks are each 
worth fifteen dollars annually to the farmers of South Dakota 
because they devour mice and grasshoppers that would destroy 
crops of that vlaue. 
347a. RouGH-LecceD Hawk (Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis.) 
This Hawk nests north of the United States and comes to 
us as a spring and fall migrant. 
The male is about twenty, and the female about twenty- 
two inches in length. On account of its remarkable variation in 
plumage the bird is difficult of description. The fact that it is 
feathered to the toes, however, easily distinguishes it from any 
Hawk thus far listed from South Dakota. The back and upper 
wing feathers are usually dark slaty black, mingled with reddish 
brown or buff, the head and hind neck being lighter. The under 
parts are buff mixed with black, except that on the lower belly 
there is usually a very dark area. The under tail is nearly white 
with a black band near the tip. The young average darker than 
the adults. 
Its diet of mice, gophers, grasshoppers, frogs and snakes 
easily places it in the protective list. 
348. FERruciINouS RoUGH-LEG (Anchib:teo ferruginens.) 
This Hawk is slightly larger than the preceding, measur- 
ing from twenty-two to twenty-five inches in length, the female 
being the larger. Like the Rough-legged Hawk, it is feathered 
