1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 39 



Following is the list of the birds of prey reported to be 

 most numerous in this State : — 



Red-tailed hawk (Buteo borealis) . Resident. 



Red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) . Resident. 



Broad-winged hawk (Buteo latissimus) . Summer resident. 



Sparrow hawk (Falco sparverius) . Tolerably common resident, 

 but more frequently met with in the spring and fall. 



Pigeon hawk (Falco columbarius) . Rather rare; spring, fall 

 and winter. <t „ 



Marsh hawk (Circus Hudsonius). Summer resident. 



Cooper's hawk (Accipiter Cooperii). Summer resident ; occasion- 

 ally found in winter. 



Sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter velox). Summer resident; not 

 common in winter. 



Rough-legged hawk (Archibuteo lagopus Sancti Johannis). 

 Winter resident ; occurs generally in meadows and marshes. 



Great horned owl (Bubo Virginianus) . Resident. 



Barred owl (Syrnium nebulosum). Resident. 



Long-eared owl (Asio Wilsonianus) . Resident. 



Short-eared owl (Asio accipitrinus) . Resident; most numerous 

 iu winter. 



Screech owl (Megascops asio) . Resident. 



Of this list, all the species, other than the cooper's, sharp- 

 shinned and pigeon hawks, and the great horned owl, and 

 perhaps the barred, which prey considerably upon poultry, 

 different kinds of game and various species of small wild 

 birds, are beneficial, and should be protected by the farmer 

 and fruit grower. AVith the exceptions just noted, the birds 

 named in the foregoing list feed mainly on mice, and other 

 small quadrupeds and insects, which are so destructive in 

 the fields, orchards and gardens. 



The rough-legged, marsh and red-tailed hawks feed chiefly 

 on meadow mice ; the red-shouldered hawk, in addition to 

 feeding on mice, devours grasshoppers, crickets and beetles, 

 and he also frequently catches frogs and lizards, and 

 occasionally, like the red-tailed hawk, he preys on snakes. 

 The beautiful little sparrow hawk, the smallest of all our 

 falcons, subsists principally on a diet of grasshoppers and 

 beetles ; he is also a good mouser, and, since the pestiferous 

 English sparrows have become so abundant, he has been 

 observed to frequently prey upon them. 



