EED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 63 



ate tlie eyes and brains first, even when the animal's abdominal cavity- 

 was opened, and in most cases discarded the stomach and large intes- 

 tines altogether. ^ 



Some authors insist that the Eed-shouldered Hawk is destructive to 

 poultry, but the writer in all his field experience has never seen one 

 attack a fowl, nor has he found the remains of one in the stomachs of 

 those examined. In making this statement, he does not include poul- 

 try which is eaten in the form of offal, for in severe weather when the 

 ground is covered with snow and when food is scarce, the Eed-shoul- 

 dered Hawk will devour dead chickens which have been thrown out 

 from the yard, as well as other refuse found on the compost heaps or in 

 the vicinity of slaughterhouses. At such times the writer has often 

 captured specimens of this Hawk, as well as of crows, blue jays, red 

 and flying squirrels, in steel traps set near a piece of chicken, rabbit, 

 or beef fastened in a tree. 



In a communication received by the TJ. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture from Mr. J. Alden Loring, of Owego, Tioga County, N. T., in 

 September, 1889, he gives the following testimony in reference to this 

 bird: "The pair reared their young for two years in a small swampy 

 piece of woods about 50 rods from a poultry farm containing 800 young 

 chickens and 400 ducks, and the keeper told me he had never seen the 

 hawks attempt to catch one." It is extremely improbable that this 

 slow-flying Hawk often captures birds, except such as are disabled. 



Progs are eagerly sought after. The tame Hawk mentioned below 

 always took them in preference to anything else except a live mouse. 

 Toads also furnish food for it, especially in the spring, when they are 

 in the water spawning. Small and medium sized snakes are often 

 found among the stomach contents, and occasionally the Hawk is seen 

 flying with one of these reptiles dangling Ixom the talons. Dr. 0. Hart 

 Merriam says: "I ouce took from the stomach of one of these hawks 

 a snake {Uutainia saurita) measuring 22 inches in length." (Birds of 

 Connecticut, 1877, p. 86.) Crawfish, in sections of the country where they 

 abound, are often taken by this Hawk, as by most of the other Buteos. 

 Maynard, after telling how this Hawk has learned to visit the poul- 

 try yard, states: "In Florida I found them feeding upon small mam- 

 mals, reptiles, crabs, and other crustaceans." (Birds Eastern K Am. 

 p. 312.) "' 



Among the insects which are destroyed in considerable numbers 

 by this bird, may be mentioned grasshoppers, crickets, and various 

 kinds of beetles and caterpillars. Even in December and early Jan- 

 uary, when apparently all insect life is in a dormant state, specimens 

 of the Eed-shouldered Hawk are found whose stomachs are filled with 

 one or more species of these insects. 



Mr. Benjamin Mortimer, whose observations were made in Florida 

 makes the following statement as to its food : " This is the most trouble- 

 some of the hawks among young chickens in Orange County. The 



