1913 ' I Cameron, Swainson's Hawk in Montana. .'JS.'> 



(Eutaenia rirtalis) firmly coiled around one wring. Both hawk and 

 snake were unfortunately killed; neither docs any harm, and they 

 are useful to destroy the ubiquitous mice. In fact the snake dis- 

 gorged a partly digested mouse when withdrawn from the water. 

 So tightly did the reptile (which measured twenty-eight inches) 

 encircle the hawk's wing, that it could not be pulled away and had 

 to be gradually unwound. Dr. Holland mentioned toSeebohman 

 instance in Pomerania of a female buzzard (Bitieo vulgaris) which 

 represents the American />'. swainsoni) having been found dead 

 on the nesl with ;i live viper under her.' 



It has been universally considered by ornithologists that mem- 

 bers <>f the subgenus Buteo never chase birds on the wing, hut I be- 

 lieve all buzzards which stoop to a feathered prey will occasionally 

 do so when driven by hunger, or incensed by the disappoint- 

 ment of missing the bird on the ground. The distinguished orni- 

 thologist, (ones, referring to Swainson's Hawk wrote: "Though 

 really strong and sufficiently fierce birds I scarcely think they are 

 smart enough to catch birds very often. 2 For my own part, I 

 believe that their failure "to catch birds very often" proceeds 

 more from disinclination than inability to do so. Where locusts, 

 mice and frogs are exceedingly abundant, as is usually the case here, 

 these indolent hawks which would "rather snatch stealthily than 

 capture in open piracy" ! are reluctant to exert themselves to hunt 

 the more agile game. I have only once myself seen a Swainson's 

 Hawk in pursuit of ;i flying bird, although such a chase must not 

 infrequently occur when the hawk is famished or ground game is 

 scarce or absent. In this flight, at any rate, the hawk acquitted 

 herself with considerable dash, and, so far as I know, has added 

 a new record to the hitherto published history of the species. 

 During August, I'll).), I saw the female of the pair of Swainson's 

 Hawks which had been under observation, and whose young had 

 then flown, make a determined stoop at a Lark Bunting (Cala- 

 tnospiza melanocorys) on the ground. The quarry crouched under 

 the lowest, wire of a protecting fence, and there was no wind to 

 aid the hawk which was obviously SO hungry that her valor over- 



' British Birds, Vol. l, p. 120. 

 Birds <>r the Northwest, 1874, p. 358. 

 'Coues op. cit. 



