MARSH HAWK. 29 



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. Unfortunately, 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 innumerable nests of game birds by destroying the 

 vermin which eat the grain, girdle the trees, and devour the eggs and 

 young of the birds. 



The Marsh Hawk is unquestionably one of the most beneficial as it is 

 one of our most abundant Hawks, and its presence and increase should 

 be encouraged in every way possible, not only by protecting it by law, 

 but by disseminating a knowledge of the benefits it confers. It is 

 probably the most active and determined foe of meadow mice and 

 ground squirrels, destroying greater numbers of these pests than any 

 other species, and this fact alone should entitle it to protection, even if 

 it destroyed no other injurious animals. 



The following species of mammals and bii'ds were positively identified 

 among the stomach contents : 



MAMMALS. Philohela minor. 



Arvicola riparius. Colinua virginianut. 



Arvicola pinetorum. Quiscalus quiscula. 



Thomomys. Poocaitea gramineus. 



SpermopMlus IS-lineatus. Ammodramus s. savanna. 



Spe/rmopJiilua IS-lineatus pallidus. Ammodramus lecontei. 



SpermopMlus mollis. Ammodramus s. passerinus. 



Neosorex. Spieella monticola. 



Sigmodon. Spizella pusilla, 



Zepus aylvaiicus. Spizella aodalia. 



Tamiaa minimus. Junco hyemalis. 



Sorex. Passerina eyanea. 



Blarina exilipes. Melospiza faaciala. 



Mephitis. Melospiza georgiana. 



Sciurus hudsonicus. Passer domesiieus. 



Perodipus ordii. Merula migratoria. 



BIKDS. Mimus polyglottos, 

 Charitonetta albeola. 

 Eallua virginianus. 

 Eallus crepitans. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Face encircled by a ruff of short compact feathers, as in the Owls. 



Adult male. — Mostly of a uniform light bluish gray streaked with 

 white; tail barred with six to eight bands, the one nearest the end 

 being broader and darker; tips of the wings blackish. 



Female and immature. — Dusky or rusty brown, more or less streaked 

 on head and neck. The Marsh Hawk may be easily distinguished in 

 any plumage by the large white patch on the rump. 



