IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



15 



The breeding range of this 

 hawk includes Canada, Alaska, 

 Greenland and all of the United 

 Sta,tes with the possible excep- 

 tion of the southern part of our 

 dominion. It is a migrant, being 

 found only during the breeding 

 season in the northern part of its 

 range. In its journey northward 

 it generally follows the river 

 courses or rather the course taken 

 by the ducks in their migration ; for 

 they enter largely into its bill of 

 fare. 



With the possible exception of 

 the American Gos Hawk, it is the 

 most audacious of our birds of 

 prey. It is regarded with dis- 

 favor by hunters and they never 

 lose an opportunity of shooting at 

 it. I say shooting at it; for they 

 don't always kill it when they 

 seem to have an opportunity. 

 There are some reasons for this, 

 which may be briefly stated. It 

 is a compact bird, its flesh being 

 very tough, more so than the 

 proverbial boiled owl. Its flight 

 is so rapid the hunter is apt to 

 shoot behind it, and its tenacity 

 of life being wonderful, unless a 

 wing be broken it will fly as long 

 as life remains in the body, and 

 it has been known to sit on a 

 limb after it was shot through till 

 life was extinct. 



This hawk is quite a persistent 



hunter and moves over a con- 

 siderable territory in a short space 

 of time. It seldom soars, in fact, 

 I never saw it sailing. It seems 

 to see everything near it when it 

 alights upon a tree, which tree is 

 usually a dead one that com- 

 mands a view of quite a bit of 

 territory and if it happens to be 

 hungry, woe betide any snipe or 

 bird that comes within its range 

 of vision. I never saw this hawk 

 capture anything larger than a 

 snipe or flicker, though a nephew 

 of mine who has hunted and col- 

 lected with me since I have been 

 engaged in the pastime (I don't 

 call it a business) has seen this 

 hawk capture a teal duck. 



I never saw the hawk when it 

 was devouring its victim, though 

 I have tried to get in sight of it 

 several times. Audubon says it 

 flies with its victim to some con- 

 venient spot and alights, turns 

 its prey on its back, and with its 

 beak, plucks the feathers from its 

 breast, then tears out the meat 

 and swallows it, leaving the 

 refuse, but if it is a small bird 

 and the hawk is hungry, it will 

 eat that also. Fish eyes and 

 scales have been found in its 

 stomach which show that these 

 enter into its bill of fare. It is 

 not a fisher and the conclusion 

 was that they were parts of fish 



