104 



THE O O L O G I S T 



THE FOOD OF YOUNG HAWKS 



We hear and read a good deal 

 about the stealth and cunning of the 

 Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks. 

 We are told it is they who do all 

 the chicken stealing and bird kill- 

 ing that we thought the larger hawks 

 responsible for. I have set out to 

 find out for myself. 



I have had under observation for 

 this spring and summer, a pair of red- 

 tails, a pair of Cooper's hawks and 

 a pair of sharp-shinned hawks. I 

 maintained a close watch upon the 

 first and the last named, to see just 

 what they fed thedr young and learn 

 much other things about them as I 

 might. The Cooper's hawks nest was 

 too far away and too hard to reach 

 after one arrived at the site, to make 

 very many trips out to see it, hence 

 I have not completed data for this 

 nest. 



Before the eggs of the red-tails 

 hatched, the parents fed on rodents — 

 mostly the striped ground squirrels 

 (Spermophile). After the young got 

 out of the shells, the whole bill of 

 fare was young chicken. At differ- 

 ent times we found chickens to the 

 number of seven. There were times 

 when we could not go to the nest for 

 a week or two, and it maybe there 

 was other food fed to the young dur- 

 ing that time. 



On May 13th, this year, I found a 

 nest of the sharp-shinned hawk, and 

 made seven trips to see it during 

 the time between then and the 8th 

 of July. I expected to find all man- 

 ner of birds were being fed to the 

 young. I even had hopes of taking 

 some of the freshly killed birds to 

 mount for my collection. I am glad 

 to say, that I found no evidence of a 

 single bird killed. Locusts, large 

 beetles and cicadas, with a mouse or 

 two for desert, was the main type 

 of food. Of course these are only 



two instances, hut, if we were to 

 judge, we would reverse the reputa- 

 tion of these two birds somewlhat, 

 we think. Ralph J. Donahue, 



Bonner Springs, Kans. 



BOB WHITE'S QUANDRY 



Few permanent residents, save the 

 Goldfinch and Cedar bird, postpone 

 their nesting like our Quails, many 

 of which are not incubating at this 

 advanced date, July 1st. Cold, damip 

 weather, typical for spring clim.ate 

 in Kentucky, would be fatal to many 

 quail chicks, which escaped this fate 

 because their hatching occurs 60 

 days later in mid summer. 



Reports obtained in the last fort- 

 night from a score of Barren County 

 farmers, discloses the average loss of 

 one quail's setting to every ten acres 

 of grass timothy and clover mowed. 

 This county had several thousand 

 acres of hay, and nine out of every 

 ten nests were deserted while con- 

 taining six to eighteen eggs a piece. 

 Most sets are not exposed until the 

 hay has been raked. Where wheels 

 of the farm machinery passed over 

 the nest, destruction of the eggs was 

 complete. In many instances the 

 mower had cut the growth without 

 harming the contents of the nest; 

 nevertheless abandonment had taken 

 place. Meadowlarks' domiciles simi- 

 larly exposed were rarely forsaken 

 unless destroyed. 



Boh Whites, despite their abund- 

 ance here, and decided preference 

 for settled areas and cultivated 

 fields, do not appear to lose any of 

 their sensitive traits. Today I saw 

 seven fresh eggs on a grassy hillside, 

 and although I refrained from touch- 

 ing the nest, if the little hen goes 

 elsewhere to deposit the rest of her 

 product, it will not surprise me. 

 Gerald Alan Abbott. 



Glasgow, Ky. 



