The Birds of Wyoming. 59 



and I quote the following from Fisher's Hawks and Owls of the 

 United States, pages 27, 28, and 29 : 



"When prey is discovered the hawk poises for a moment 

 over the spot and then drops quickly on it, and if unsuccessful 

 is sure to beat over the same place before leaving. It generally 

 devours its quarry on or near the spot where captured, instead 

 of carrying it away. Its food consists largely of small rodents, 

 such as meadow mice, halfgrown squirrels, rabbits, and sper- 

 mophiles or ground squirrels. In fact, so extensively does it 

 feed on the last-named animals that the writer rarely has ex- 

 amined a stomach from the west which did not contain their 

 remains. In addition to the above it preys upon lizards, frogs, 

 snakes, insects, and birds; of the latter, the smaller ground- 

 dwelling species usually are taken. When hard pressed it is 

 said to feed on offal and carrion ; and in spring and fall, when 

 water fowl are abundant, it occasionally preys upon the dead 

 and wounded birds left by gunners. It seldom chases birds on 

 the wing, though the writer has seen it do so in a few instances. 



"Mr. H. W. Henshaw, whose great field experience in 

 the west enables him to speak authoritatively on the subject, 

 says : 'They were seen at all hours of the day in search of 

 mice and gophers, which, when obtainable, constitute the major 

 part of its food. When urged by hunger, it may attack birds ; 

 and I remember to have been once robbed of a widgeon I had 

 killed and kept lying in the water, by one of these birds; but 

 generally they confine their attacks to the humblest kind of 

 game, which possess neither the strength to enable them to re- 

 sist nor the activity to evade the sudden descent of their winged 

 enemy.' 



"Although this hawk occasionally carries off poultry and 

 game birds, its economic value as a destroyer of mammal pests 

 is so great that its slight irregularities should be pardoned. Un- 

 fortunately, however, the farmer and sportsman shoot it down 

 at sight, regardless or ignorant of the fact that it preserves an 

 immense quantity of grain, thousands of fruit trees, and in- 



