Vol i907 IV ] Cameron, Birds of Custer & Davenport Counties, Mont. 267 



Hawk dash after a bird (the first time a pigeon the second time a small 

 bird) into an outbuilding right through our astonished party. On Sep- 

 tember 5, 1899, I witnessed an exciting chase by one of these hawks after 

 an Arkansas Kingbird, which, however, evaded its stoop every time and 

 finally found safety in the brush. My wife has seen several of these hawks 

 sitting on the telegraph wires at Blatchford, and Mr. J. H. Price has also 

 observed them in this locality. 



75. Falco richardsoni. Richardson's Merlin. — Rare migrant. Dur- 

 ing August, 1904, a hawk of this species came several times to drink at 

 the cattle troughs on my ranch in Dawson County. Captain Platte M. 

 Thorne mentions two specimens which he obtained in the fall of 1889. 



76. Falco sparverius phaloena. Desert Sparrow Hawk. — Summer 

 visitor, everywhere abundant. Commonest hawk in eastern Montana. 

 Arrives about the end of March, but all the birds are gone by the middle 

 of October. As a rule the Sparrow Hawk lays her eggs in deserted wood- 

 pecker holes but on one occasion she appropriated the nesting site of a 

 flicker after the latter had begun to lay. (Plate XI.) 



Upon first arrival Sparrow Hawks are seen to stoop boldly at small 

 birds on the ground, but, as far as my observation goes, they seldom take 

 feathered prey when grasshoppers are plentiful. They hawk for the 

 latter in the early morning, or just before sunset, but do no foraging in 

 the heat of the day when the grasshoppers are most in evidence. About 

 twelve large flying locusts are required to supply a Sparrow Hawk with a 

 meal; as these birds also kill numbers of mice, they are most beneficial 

 and should be strictly protected. The head of the grasshopper is first 

 plucked off and swallowed, the wings and inside are next thrown away, 

 when the bird eats the remainder. I have never known Sparrow Hawks 

 take the chicks either of domestic fowls or of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, 

 even when ample opportunity has been afforded them. Mrs. Gifford of 

 Fallon shot a Sparrow Hawk which arose from among her chickens with, 

 as she thought, one of them in its claws. The poor bird's victim, however, 

 proved to be an English Sparrow. When Sparrow Hawks chase large 

 birds, such as Doves and Meadowlarks, it would seem to be chiefly in play. 

 They are very bold in attacking the different species of Buteo and Marsh 

 Hawks which may approach their nesting site. 



77. Asio wilsonianus. American Long-eared Owl. — Resident. Not 

 common. On October 11, 1895, one (female) was shot by the cook of 

 the L. U. cattle outfit on Little Dry Creek, Dawson County, who gave it 

 to me. During October, 1899, a family of two old and five young owls 

 came every night to my haystacks in search of mice at my ranch near 

 Terry, Custer County. They were very tame, and if I rode up after dusk 

 would playfully swoop at my horse. On May 11, 1905, a Long-eared 

 Owl was flushed from a cedar patch at my ranch in Dawson County, 

 and a pair of the birds frequented the same locality in April, 1906. In 

 May, 1905, a pair nested in the hollow of a high cottonwood at the Yellow- 



