202 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



In the fall it becomes quite numerous on the return of those which 

 have bred farther north, accompanied by their families. 



Southern Ontario is probably its centre of abundance in summer, 

 for though it occurs in Manitoba and has been found by Dr. Bell at 

 York Factory, it is not common so far north. During the winter it 

 has not been observed. 



Like others of the family, this species varies greatly in plumage 

 according to circumstances. The young birds do not show any of" 

 the rich reddish-orange of the adult, and were at one time described 

 as a separate species under the name of Winter Falcon. From 

 western Texas to California, and south into Mexico, the colors become 

 much brighter and more decided, which has led to this western form 

 being described as a sub-species under the name of Buteo lineatus 

 elegans (Cass.). Occasionally we meet here with an adult in full 

 plumage which might well be included in this group, but generally 

 all are much brighter in the west. 



This is another of the chicken hawks which has borne the repu- 

 tation of robbing the poultry yard, but it is pleasant to observe 

 that the accusation is not verified by the recent examination of 

 stomachs. Dr. Fisher says : " The diet of the Red-shouldered Hawk 

 is probably more varied than that of most other birds of prey. For 

 example, the writer has found in the stomachs of the different indi- 

 viduals which have come under his notice the remains of mammals, 

 birds, snakes, frogs, fish, insects, centipedes, spiders, crawfish, earth- 

 worms and snails, which represent eleven classes of animal life. This 

 Hawk is very fond of frogs, and, although these batrachians are 

 mentioned by Audubon and other writers as forming a very con- 

 siderable portion of their sustenance, yet mice furnish fully sixty- 

 five per cent, of their food. 



"Besides this very injurious group of rodents, other small mam- 

 mals, such as squirrels, young rabbits, shrews and moles are taken. 

 Some authors insist that the Red-shouldered Hawk is destructive to 

 poultry, but the writer in all his field experience has never seen one 

 attack a fowl, nor has he found the remains of one in the stomachs 

 of those examined." 



With this record, he is fairly entitled to a place in the class whose 

 good acts are in excess of the evil. 



