12 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 28. 



and insect-eating birds. It takes very few mice and a few insects and 

 its effect can be generally looked upon with indifference. 



The American Sparrow Hawk (Plate IV A), next to the Sharp- 

 shinned, is the smallest of our hawks as well as the most beautifully and 

 characteristically marked. The male is bright brick-red on the back and 

 tail, the former barred with dark; the shoulders and crown are slate 

 blue. Below it is white, washed with light reddish tan across the breast 

 where there are numerous round black spots. There are conspicuous 

 black bands across the face in striking contrast to the white background. 

 The female is a duller red on back, shoulders, and tail, also barred with 

 dark, and below is dull cream heavily streaked with rather suffused 

 brown stripes. The face and head carry in slightly subdued form the 

 striking markings of the male. 



The principal food supply of the Sparrow Hawk is insects. Of 320 

 stomachs examined 215 contained insects, mostly grasshoppers, 89 

 mice, and 53 small birds. The latter were all taken between late 

 autumn and early spring when insects are not available. There are few 

 better friends to the farmer than this little hawk. Wherever there are 

 dead stubs containing old flicker holes in which it can nest this is a 

 common species throughout southern Canada. It should receive every 

 protection and encouragement and it would even pay to put up nesting 

 boxes for it where no natural nesting places are available. The farmer 

 should regard it as a personal damage to himself when one is killed 

 upon his premises. 



FISH HAWK. 



There is only one Fish Hawk in Canada, the Osprey (Plate IV B). 

 It is too rare over most of the mid-western provinces to be seriously 

 considered here. It lives exclusively upon fish and is seldom found 

 away from the larger bodies of water. The fish it takes are rarely of 

 economic importance and there are no substantial grounds for perse- 

 cuting it. 



It can thus be seen that with the exception of one group, the accipi- 

 ters, and some rare falcons, the hawks are highly useful, especially in 

 the prairie provinces where small mammals are a serious pest. The 

 crop damage done annually by these little animals is realized by every 

 prairie farmer and thousands of dollars are regarded as well spent in 

 controlling them. Added to the actual crop loss that can be directly 

 traced to them it has been found in California and the southwestern part 

 of the United States that they have been the instruments of the spread of 

 both cattle and human disease. It is well known to-day that some of 

 the worst diseases are spread by means of blood-sucking vermin like 



