308 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



ZOOLOGY. 



MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS OF PREY. 



WILLIAM HOSEA BALLOU. 



The question has been broached in the American Field concerning the migra- 

 tions of hawks in flocks. It would seem to be a mooted point, if the variety of 

 opinions of correspondents are to be taken into consideration. So far as my own 

 investigations extend, the matter has never been broached in books, and there- 

 fore offers a wide field for study. The question of the certainty of the migration 

 of hawks in flocks was estabUshed in my mind in 1874. I was then a resident of 

 the village of Mexico, New York. The village is situated in Oswego County, 400- 

 feet above, and several miles distant from Lake Ontario. Along the shores of 

 Mexico Bay is a great wooded tract in which are swamps, outlets of streams, and 

 occasionally a wide sand beach, or high bluff. In the winter it is the most pro- 

 lific resort of the snowy and great horned owls I ever visited. Of the first men- 

 tioned species I captured fifteen alive in traps during the winter of 1874-5, and a. 

 number of the second mentioned. In the spring time I have spent hours along 

 the shore watching the return of birds. First came the crows in literal thousands, 

 taking in the whole range of the shore-line in their noisy efforts to find a cross- 

 ing-place. Then the ice broke up ; great banks disappeared slowly in the sand, 

 and the huge cakes, acres in size, were drawn into the broad mouth of the St. 

 Lawrence. And then — well, one day I sat by the blue waters watching the sub- 

 Hme in nature, and the return of spring. There was a sudderi:%ound that seemed 

 to come from the clouds. The eye was no match for the distance. The sound 

 was multiplied to many cries, whistles, and noises. Slowly a picturesque scene 

 burst upon the view. Away up, just at the limit of vision, was a great moving, 

 maelstrom of winged creatures, wheeling, gyrating, crying, and slowly settling. 

 As they came down I recognized among the assemblage of thousands, many 

 species of hawks. I hid in the brush and waited developments. As soon as they 

 came within range, I made an onslaught with my double-barrel breech-loader, 

 firing rapidly, and with terrible effect. The birds seemed powerless to resist, 

 famished with fatigue and hunger. Many settled on the trees, and others con- 

 tinued their slow flight in both directions along the shore, Hke their predecessors, 

 the crows, in search of a crossing-place. It was three days before all had gone 

 except those destined to remain and breed. On examination of my bag, I found 

 the sharp-shinned, coopers, sparrow, red-tailed, red-shouldered and broad-winged 

 hawks. They were thin in flesh, and looked very much reduced by long flight. 

 Since that time, I have been the witness every spring of a similar spectacle at 

 some point along the lakes, though never of such magnitude. 



