44 
and fired. On taking her in my hand I found that 
I held asomewhat mangled Connecticut Warbler. 
These birds were both extremely fat, so that it 
was difficult to skin them, and quite impossible to 
make satisfactory specimens of them. The first 
bird proved to be a female, the other was so in- 
jured by shot that I could not determine the sex. 
So short a study does not give one a very full 
knowledge of their habits, but so much I learned, 
that in autumn they seek for food on the ground, 
in open land, but near some covert into which 
they hasten when alarmed, that they are very 
restless at such times, yet conceal themselves care- 
fully and still manifest considerable curiosity 
toward an intruder and are silent. In the spring 
they may appear very differently. 

Last Dates of Migratory Birds Ob- 
served in the Fall of 1885, at Mon- 
treal and Vicinity, Canada. 
BY ERNEST D. WINTLE, MONTREAL. 
Aug. 1, Indigo Bird. 
% 8, Chipping Sparrow. 
- 9, Tyrant Flycatcher, Summer Warbler. 
“15, Catbird, Red-bellied Nuthatch, Barn 
Swallow, White-bellied Swallow. 
“16, Purple Martin. 
Baltimore Oriole. 
22, Red-eyed Vireo, Black-and- White Creep- 
er, and Sharp-shinned Hawk. 
“28, Nighthawk. 
“29, Redstart, and Olive-sided Flycatcher. 
Sept. 5, Chimney Swift, Black-billed Cuckoo. 
“ 12, Golden-crowned Thrush, and Yellow- 
bellied Woodpecker. 
“15, Wild Pigeon. 
“17, Cedar Bird, Golden-winged Woodpeck- 
er, Purple Grackle, and Broad- 
winged Buzzard. 
“19, Wood Pewee, Pine-creeping Warbler. 
“26, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and White. 
throated Sparrow. 
, Wilson’s Thrush, Pigeon 
low-rumped Warbler, 
throated Green Warbler. 
Goldfinch, and Winter Wren. 
, Song Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, 
Black-capped Chickadee, Purple 
Finch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Her- 
mit Thrush, Blue Jay, White-bellied 
Nuthatch, Great Horned Ow], Pine 
Linnet, and Wilson’s Snipe. 
* 25, Wilson’s Snowbird. 
“31, Robin, and Brown Creeper, 
Novy. 11, Hairy Woodpecker. 
Hawk, Yel- 
and Black- 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 11-No. 3 
Noy. 17, Bluebird. 
“21, Crow. 
The following species, mentioned in the forego- 
ing list, are seen occasionally throughout the 
winter here: Cedar Bird, Downy Woodpecker, 
Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, White-bellied 
Nuthatch, Great Horned Owl and Pine Linnet. 
A Plea for the Hawks. 

BY FALCO. 
The common idea among farmers is that Hawks 
are their worst enemies among the birds, and that 
they cannot do better than exterminate them. 
That such a conclusion is an error was conclu- 
sively shown by Mr. B. Harry Warren, in his 
paper on “Diurnal Rapacious Birds, with special 
reference to Chester County, Pa.,”’ which was pub- 
lished in the Report of the Pennsylvania Board of 
Agriculture for 1883. 
Mr. Warren dissected a large number of Hawks, 
which were shot and trapped in Chester County 
during a period of eight years, and found the con- 
tents of their stomachs to be as follows: 
RED-TAILED Hawk, (Buteo borealis,) 102 birds 
examined. ‘‘In 81 chiefly mice and small quad- 
rupeds, also some few small birds; 9, chickens; 3, 
quail; 2, rabbits; 1, ham-skin; 1, a part of a skunk; 
1, a red squirrel; 1, a grey squirrel; 3, snakes.” 
RED-SHOULDERED Hawk, Buteo lineatus), 36 
birds examined. “23 showed mice and small 
quadrupeds, grasshoppers and coleopterous in- 
sects; 9, revealed frogs and some few insects; in 2, 
snakes and portions of frogs were present; and 
from the remaining two, small birds, particles of 
hair, and a few orthopterous insects were taken.” 
BROAD-WINGED Hawk, (Buteo pennsylvanicus, ) 
12 birds examined. ‘4 revealed mice; 8, small 
birds; 4, frogs; 1, killed the 22d of May this 
present year, (1888,) was gorged with cray-fish, 
with which were traces of coleopterous insects.” 
Sparrow Hawk, (Zinnunculus sparverius), 29 
birds examined. “15, principally mice, with fre- 
quent traces of various insects; 6, grasshoppers ; 
2, coleoptera and grasshoppers; 2, Meadow Larks; 
4, small birds—sparrows.” 
Cooper’s Hawk, (Accipiter cooper’), 27 birds 
examined. ‘14 showed the food taken to have 
been chickens; 5, revealed small birds—sparrows 
and warblers—Dendraca—2, quail; 1, bull-frogs ; 
3, mice and insects; 2, hair and other remains of 
quadrupeds.” 
SHARP-SHINNED Hawk, (Aceipiter fuscus), 15 
birds examined. ‘‘6 of this number showed small 
birds; 3, quail; 1, mice; 4, remains of young 
chickens; 1, grasshoppers and beetles.” 
