193 



given by JJr. A. K. Fisher, of 49 stomachs, shows con 

 clusively that meadow mice constitute nlraost wholly 

 the food of the species. Prof. Samuel .Vnghey found 

 the remains O'f a gopher, a small lizard, and seventy 

 insects in the stomach of a Rough-leg killed in Ne- 

 braska, in September. 1872; however, such food ma- 

 terials accoi'ding to most authorities, are .seldom taken. 

 Of the 49 stomachs referred to by Dr. Fisher, 40 con 

 tained mice, chiefly meadow mice; usually. 2 or ^ in 

 each stomach, scauetimes 4 or 5, and in several 

 stomachs, each contained 6 or 7 of these little animals. 



DESTROYS ENEMIES OP THE ORCHARD. 



"The Rough-leg is one of the most nocturnal of our hawks, 

 find may be seen in the fading twilight watching from some 

 low perch, or beating with measured, noiseless flight over its 

 hunting ground. It follows two very diffor'^'nt methods in 

 securing i'.a food, one by sitting on some stub or low tree 

 and watching th^' ground for the appearance of its prey, as 

 tht; Red-tail dees- the other by beating back and forth, just 

 above the tops of the grass or bushes, and dropping upon Its 

 victim, after the manner of the Marsh Hawk. Its food con- 

 sists principally, if not almost exclu.iively, of the smaller 

 rodents, and most prominent among these are the arvicoline 

 mice and lemmings. As is well known, the meadow mice 

 CArvicolae) are widely distributed over the North Temperate 

 Zone, and often occur in immense numbers, overrunning cer- 

 tain sections of the country, and doing Irreparable damage to 

 crops as well as to fruit and ornamental trees. 



"Repeatedly young orchards, consisting of hundreds of 

 trees, and representing great money value, have been totally 

 destroyed by these pests. The damage is done in winter, 

 under the snow, where the mice eat the bark from the trees, 

 often completely girdling them and' causing their death. 



"Usually meadow mice are fairly common, if not abundant, 

 over a lai-ge part of the meadow and marsh lands of the 

 central and northern United States and tempeiate Canada. 

 To show how important meadow mice are to the Rough-leg 

 as an article of food, it may be stated in general terms that 

 the southern limit of its wanderings in winter is nearly co- 

 incident with the southern boundary of the region inhabited 

 by meadow mice. In the north lemmings are abundant over 

 the country in which the Rough-leg makes its summer home, 

 and furnish a never-failing supply of food for old and young. 



"The following statements indicate to what extent the 

 Rough-leg feedr on meadow mice: "Mr. E. O. Damon, of 

 N'irthamptcn. Massachusetts. Informs the writer that he has 

 killed hundreds of these hawks on the low meadows bordering 

 tht=> Connecticut riv^r. and of the many stomachs he ex- 



13-n 



