THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 83 



The birds breed and are distributed over the whole of 

 North America to Nova Scotia and Manitoba. 



Government reports of examination of 102 stomachs 

 showed that 1 contained poultry, 5 other birds, 61 mice, 

 20 other mammals, 15 reptiles and frogs, 40 insects, 7 

 spiders, 3 crawfish, 1 earthworm, 1 offal, 1 catfish, 3 

 were empty. Government examination of 220 stomachs 

 showed that 3 contained poultry, 12 other birds, 102 

 mice, 40 other mammals, 10 reptiles, 39 frogs, 92 insects, 

 16 spiders, T crawfish, 1 earthworm, 2 offal, 3 fish, 14 

 were empty. 



..ifcn iitfH'k or Chicken Hawk. 



Length, twenty inches; extent, three feet, nine inches; 

 above brown, with slight mottling of white and gray; 

 lower parts pure white, with brown streaks on the belly 

 and flanks; wing feathers brown, somewhat barred 

 towards the tip; inner webs, white at their base; tail, 

 uniform rufous, with a narrow black bar near the tip 

 (sometimes plain); young with tail brown, with nine or 

 ten narrow blackish bars. In this plumage it greatly re- 

 sembles the young of the Red-shouldered Hawk, but can 

 be distinguished by the absence of streaks on the center 

 of the breast and neck. 



The nest, built in trees, thirty to seventy feet from the 

 ground, is composed of sticks surmounted by a layer of 

 soft bark. Mating begins in March. The eggs are from 

 two to four in number, two and two -fifths inches ,by one 

 and four-fifths in size, of a dull white, thickly blotched 

 with shades of brown. 



The bird breeds and is distributed throughout the east- 

 ern part of North America. 



Government examination of 311 stomachs showed that 

 29 contained poultry or game birds, 35 other birds, 203 

 mice, 55 other mammals, 9 reptiles, 24 insects, 3 craw- 

 fish, 4 offal, 29 were empty; 210 stomachs contained 2 TO 

 mice. An examination of 562 stomachs showed that 54 



