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to information lately furnished the lawmakers by the 

 zoologists, laws have been passed in many states protect- 

 ing all hawks except the goshawk, Cooper's hawk, and the 

 sharp-shinned hawk, which feed largely on song birds and 

 poultry. The sparrow hawk occasionally destroys a few 



FlG. 288. Black-billed cuckoo. Photograph one third life size. 



song birds, but atones for it by preying on the worth- 

 less English sparrows and grasshoppers. Of one hundred 

 and seventy stomachs of the red-tailed hawk examined, 

 one hundred and thirty-one contained mice, nine contained 

 rabbits and squirrels, six had snakes and insects, and in 

 only four was any poultry present; nevertheless, this val- 

 uable bird is popularly referred to as the hen hawk. 



