rs WITH :i s 

 f ;i youns ral.hil. 



Coiicorniii<>- 11h> fond of I his liird difffi'pnl writers 

 sppok as follows: 



"When prey is discovered the hawk poises' for a moment 

 over the spot and then drops quickly on it. and if successful 

 is sure to beat over the same place before leaving. It gen- 

 erally devours its quarry on or near the spot whei'e captured, 

 instead of carrying: it away. Its food consists largely of small 

 rodents, such as meadow mice, half-grown squirrels, rabbits 

 and spermophiles or ground squirrels. In fact, so extensively 

 does it feed on the last named animals that the writer rarely 

 has examined a stomach from the West which did not contain 

 their remains. 



FEEDS ON KRPTII.ES AND INSECTS. 



In addition to the above it preys upon lizards, frogs, snakes, 

 insects and birds: of the latter, the smaller ground-dwelling 

 species usuallj' are taken. When hard pressed it is said to 

 feed on offal and carrion, and in the spring and fall, when 

 water fowl are abundant, it occasionally pi-eys upon dead 

 and wounded birds-left by gunners. It seldom chases birds nn 

 the wing, though the writer has seen it do so in a few in- 

 stances."- Fisher Bulletin No. !!. 



Audubon .says: 



"The food of the Marsh Hawk consists of insects of various 

 kinds, especially crickets; of lizards, frogs, snakes, birds, 

 principally the smaller sorts, although it will attack par- 

 tridges, plovers, and even green-winged teals, when urged by 

 excessive hunger." 



Mr. H. AA'. Hensliaw, whose extensive fiekl expei'i- 

 ence in the West cave Iiim abundant opportunity of 

 thoroughly aeqnaintinii- liiinscif witii Iho liatiits of tliis 

 species, says: 



"They were seen at all hours of the day »«*'■. 

 in search of mice and gophers, which, when obtainable, con- 

 stitute the major part of their food. When urged by hunger, 

 it may attack birds, and I remember to have once been robbed 

 of a widgeon I had killed and kept lying in the water, by one 

 of these birds: but generally they confine their attacks to 

 the humblest kind of game, which possess neither the 

 strength to enable them to resist nor the activity to evade 

 the sudden descent of their winged enemy."— Ornith. Wheeler 

 Survey, 100 Merid.. IST.i. 



