the Department placed the matter in the hands of Dr. Merriam and Dr. Fisher, 

 two of the leading ornithologists of America, with instructions to prepare a report 

 on the subject. This they have done, and the result of their investigations, which 

 I shall give at the end of this chapter, shows conclusively that all the hawks which 

 I have referred to as being beneficial to agriculture are of the greatest possible 

 value in ridding us of enormous numbers of destructive animals, and that they are 

 practically innocent of the commonly urged charge against them of poultry-killing. 

 There is only one more species of hawk to be considered, and that is the 

 beautiful little Sparrow Hawk, probably the commonest of all our hawks, and 

 which may be distinguished from any of the others by its smaller size and red 

 back. It may be constantly seen hovering over fields in Ontario, all through the 

 summer, for it breeds with us, raising its young in a convenient hole in a tree, 

 frequently choosing one that has been deserted by one of the large woodpeckers. 

 The very small size of this bird precludes the idea that it can take a full grown 

 fowl or even a pigeon, and I have never known in my own experience that it has 

 ever taken a young chicken. Its principal food consists of mice and grasshoppers, 

 of both of which it consumes immense quantities, but it does occasionally take wild 

 birds, more particularly those which frequent the open fields and skulk in the 

 grass or run about the stubbles. The birds taken by these species are, however, 

 so few in number compared to the number of mice which it destroys, and the 

 good it does in reducing the swarms of grasshoppers which infest our fields, that 

 we may well forgive its slight trespasses, the balance of good over evil being so 

 great that the birds deserve our protection. The following shows the result of 

 the investigation made by Dr. Fisher at the request of the Department of Agri- 

 culture of the United States : 



Red-tailed Hawk. 562 stomachs examined : 54 contained poultry or game 

 birds ; 51, other birds ; 409, mice and other animals ; 37, reptiles, etc. ; 47, insects; 

 9, crawfish, etc. ; 13, oftal ; and 89 were empty. 



Red -shouldered Hawk. 220 stomachs were examined : 3 contained poultry 

 12, other birds ; 142, mice and other mammals; 59, reptiles, etc. ; 109, insects 

 7, crawfish ; 2, offal ; 3, fish ; and 14 were empty. 



Broad-winged Hawk. 65 stomachs were examined: 2 contained small birds ; 

 28, mice and other mammals ; 24, reptiles, etc. ; 32, insects, etc. ; 4 crawfish ; and 



7 were empty. 



Rough-legged Hawk. 49 stomachs examined : 45 contained mice and other 

 mammals ; 1, lizards ; 1, insects ; and 4 were empty. 



Sparrow Hawk. 320 stomachs examined : 1 contained a quail ; 53 other 

 birds; 101, mice and other mammals; 11, reptiles, etc. ; 244, insects, etc.; and two 

 were empty. 



Marsh Hawk. 124 stomachs examined : 7 contained poultry or game birds; 

 34, other birds ; 79, mice and other mammals ; 9, reptiles, etc. ; 14, insects ; and 



8 were empty. 



Thus it can be seen that of the 49 stomachs of the Rough-legged Hawk 

 examined by Dr. Fisher, and the 32 examined by me, in 1895, not one contained 

 a trace of any domestic fowl and nearly everyone contained mice. Yet many 

 people persist in calling this bird the " Big Hen Hawk " and in treating it as an 

 enemy, when both by law and public opinion it should be protected by every pos- 

 sible means. The statement as to all the other species that I have referred to as 

 beneficial is equally corroborated by my own experience, and shows how well 

 entitled these birds are to consideration at our hands instead of the persecution 

 they usually meet. 



