66 . . Wyoming Experiment Station. 



amie Plains they usually nest during the last half of May. This 

 species must be considered a ranchman's friend and should 

 be protected in all possible ways. They seldom if ever visij 

 the poultry yard. Their chief food is ground squirrels, mice 

 and insects. The testimonials referring to the food of this 

 bird are very numerous and they, almost unanimously agree. 

 Quoting from Fisher again (Hawks and Owls of the United 

 States, pp. 73, 75 and 76,) will amplify this statement: ■ 



"The food of this Hawk, like that of the other Buteos, 

 is extremely varied, but generally consists of more insect mat- 

 ter than is usually the case in birds of prey of this group. Be- 

 sides insects, it feeds extensively on gophers (ground squir- 

 rels) and other small rodents, reptiles, batrachians, and occa- 

 sionally on birds. 



"Dr. C. Hart Merriam, in the Forest and Stream of De- 

 cember 27, 1888, page 455, gives a very interesting account 

 of a flock of these birds which he saw feeding on grasshoppers 

 in Oregon in the summer of 1888, which is here added : 'Dur- 

 ing the evening of August 20, 1888, Mr. H. W. Henshaw and 

 I drove from Pendleton to the Umatilla Indian Agency, in 

 northeastern Oregon, about 50 miles east of the Great Bend 

 of the Columbia. It had been so hot during the day, the ther- 

 mometer standing at 104 degrees in the shade, that we were 

 unable to go out. Driving along the crest of the plateau just 

 south of the Umatilla river, at about sundown, we were aston- 

 ished to see a very large number of large hawks hopping about 

 on the ground, catching grasshoppers. We counted about 

 150 of these hawks, and there must have been at least 200 in 

 the immediate neighborhood. At first we took them to be 

 rough-legs, but later ascertained that nearly if not all were 

 Swainson's hawks (Buteo swainsoni). The period between 

 sundown and dark in that region is so short that the birds were 

 still catching grasshoppers when overtaken by darkness. 



" 'About 6 o'clock the next morning I visited the same 

 place and was gratified to find the hawks engaged in making 



