ll->w many mice each bird wouM take on ill.- average each clay would he difficult 

 t.i state e\aetly. luit it is safe bo assume that at least ni would i- n-|uir-'l. \ 



multiplv I lull ly the\ast army of these hawks that report. to this Pi md 



(In- total aumber of mice destroyed would in- ama/ing; ; ( l th--n againsi this good 

 work constantly going on then- is oodamagi -t off. Not one i in 



thirty years' observation >t' this bird's habit*, ha* ever come to tin- writer's know- 

 ledge of their having attacked a sinple domestic fowl. It does iometime0 take a 



meal i.tl a dead duck or other bird it may fiml lying in tin- OUUfthefl but it is 

 doubtful it' it ever kills for itself a liinl of any kind., -it any rate in thi> IV 

 l'.\ .-ry fan MIT ami every sports man in tin: land should do liis ut nm-t toi the : 



tection of this bird. Unfortunately they are instantly destroyed 63 



wlio arc ignorant of the good they do, and thousands ai'r killed i-vcry autnmi. 



It 



misclurvioiis prop].- who must shoot at <-\.-rytliiii^ tln-y see that luis lift- in it It 

 pro|)l<- who wantonly shoot hawks would Mjinetinirs look at tin- stomai-h c'.nt<-nts 

 of the l)inls they kill they would soon be com inn-d of th- w mji- t hey were 

 doing and would perhape exerdse sufficient common sense to n-frain from . 

 tinning the evil practice. 



For t lie sake of brevity the Red-tailed Hawk. Red-sbquldered Hawk, and 

 ^road-winced Hawk may b^ considered together. These three common 

 ai-e usually known s ' Hen Hauks." Why, however, it would he ditiicult to say. 

 Thcv are all fairly large, slow, heavy flying birds, whose food consists principally 

 of mice, s<|uirrels, toads, frogs and snakes; very rarely do they ever take a l.ird 

 of any kind. In fact it would be extremely difficult for them to do so, unless the 

 hi id was very young, or injured seriously. They will, when pressed by hunger, 

 feed on carrion, but the staple article of diet with them is meadow mice and 

 squirrels, varied, as befo restated, by toads, frogs and snakes, besides grasshoppers 

 and other insects. 



I have specially omitted from this group, to which it really In-long--.'. tin- 

 Rough -legged Hawk. This is done purposely, because the great value of the 

 species to the farmer should be particularly pointed out, the bird having l>e n 

 most unjustly persecuted. It is the largest of the Canadian hawk*, and one that 

 deserves the greatest consideration and * protection from every man having an 

 interest ni agriculture. It can be safely said that this SO* called * Hen-Hawk 

 has never killed a head of poultry at any time, nor do they ever kill birds of any 

 sort. During the fall of 1895 these hawks were very abundant in southern 

 Ontario and large numbers were killed. I obtained all the bodies I could for tin- 

 pin-pose of investigating the contents of their stomachs, and I spent much tim<- 

 in watching their habits whilst feeding. All day long, every day from the firs 

 October of that year to November 28th, the birds were constantly pa-sin- slowly 

 a.lng through southern Ontario, feeding as they went , and not one fowl was taken 

 or attacked ly them any where, so fara> I could learn, and 1 made enquiries from 

 poultry keepers wherever I could. In all, . Si specimens were examined by me, 

 and the result corroborated my experience during the last thirty years. In one 

 stomach I found a frog, in another the flesh of a musk rat taken from a pile of 

 bodies of these creatures which had been thrown together in Ashbridge's Marsh. 

 Another stomach was filled with large grasshoppers, and the rest contained mic-- 

 and nothing but mice, or traces of them, ranging in <juantity from a little fur and 

 a few bones to seven whole ones. From this it can be judged whether or not th- 

 Hough-legged Hawk is the friend of the fanner. 



The attention of the Department of Agriculture at Washington was s 

 tim- lied to the fact that mice and other destructive rodent- wen larg'-K 



increasing throughout the ("nited States, and it was suggested that the constant 

 destruction of the hawks and owls was the reason for it. In consequence of this 



