162 



Pheasants or Ruffed (Jrouse, both old aud joung, also 

 quail, ai'e deslroved in rousiderable numbers by the 

 Sharp-shinned hawks. Young rabbits and squirrels 

 are occasionall.v captured by these hawks, and on one 

 occasion, a few years ago, a hunter of my acquaint i 

 a nee sliol aud presented to me a pair of these hawks 

 which had killed several young wild turkeys, which he 

 said were about one-third grown. T have known both 

 the Sharp shinned and Cooper's Hawks, which had 

 l)i'obably been watching coveys of quail, to suddenly 

 .swoop down and seize a quail which had been shot, 

 when the sitortsnian was only a few yards from the 

 qiuiil he had killed or wounded. Doves, which in re- 

 cent years or since the wild pigeons have disappeared 

 from this region, are eagerly sought after by sports- 

 men in many sections of the State, are very often de- 

 stroyed by these hawks, and they also sometimes at- 

 tack domestic pigeons. 



According to Nuttall: 



"This species feeds particularly upon mice, lizards, small 

 birds, and sometimes even squirrels. In thinly settled dis- 

 tricts this Hawlv seems to abound, ami prove.s extremely dr 

 structlve to young chickens, a single bird having been known 

 regularly to come every day until he had carried away be- 

 tween twenty and thirty." 



The same writer relates a ciicumstances, where he 

 was one day conversing with a pliinter, when one of 

 these hawks came down and without any ceremon.V 

 or heeding the loud cries of the housewife, who most 

 ri'liictaully witnessed the robbery, snatched away a 

 chicken directly before them. 



Or. Coues says: 



"It preys chiefly upon small birds and quadrupeds, captur- 

 ing in the dashing manner of all the species of this group, 

 and. like its small allies, feeds to some extent upon insects." 



