116 



THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA 



heavier timber and wooded bottom lands along our streams. This 

 species is among the most handsomely marked of our Iowa birds of 

 prey. Immature birds, though in other respects differing from the 

 adults, show more or less of the characteristic red coloration of the 

 shoulders. 



Professor Charles R. Keyes has found it nesting during April on 

 the Cedar river bottoms near Mount Vernon, and together with Mr. 

 Jasper Brown of Norway has found them frequenting similar haunts 

 along Iowa river in the Amana colony. 



Mr. Brown collected two sets of four eggs each and one of five, 

 on April 7, 11 and 9, respectively. In each instance the nest was in 

 an oak tree, at the average height of forty feet, and was composed of 

 sticks, twigs, bark, etc., and lined with grass, dry leaves and feathers. 

 The nest examined April 7 contained a frog and a snake. 



R. M. Anderson considers it "rare in the northern portion, and not 

 reported from the western part of the state," but much more com- 

 mon, though frequently unobserved, in southeastern Iowa. 



Many authors refer to the attachment of this hawk to its nesting 

 site, and to its habit of laying supplemental sets if the first eggs are 

 taken. 



The bill of fare of the Red-shouldered Hawk includes earthworms, 

 insects, crayfish, fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, and mammals of the 

 humbler sort. The species is unquestionably of economic value 

 to the state. 



Fig-. 43. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Red-shouldered Hawk. 



