SPARROW HAWK. 119 



injurious mammals or insects by hawks does not offset the damage done 

 by the capture of one bird or chicken. This, of course, is not the case 

 with those intelligent farmers who recognize the benefit done by this 

 little hawk, and are not prejudiced against it if it exacts a moderate 

 interest now and then in the shape of a young chicken or bird. In 

 May and June, when the hawks are busy hatching their eggs and rear- 

 ing their young, there is less time for them to procure their favorite food. 



It is during this period, as we might expect, that a very large pro- 

 portion of the birds which they capture in the course of the year is 

 taken. It is also at this time that we hear complaints of their depre- 

 dations in the poultry yard. 



From the following note it may be seen that occasionally they take 

 also old birds from the nests : " In Elizabeth, N. J., several years ago, 1 

 saw a pair of Sparrow Hawks fly up under the eaves of an old barn and 

 drag a couple of swallows out of their nests." (Merriam, Review of 

 the Birds of Connecticut, 1877, p. 85.) 



That the Sparrow Hawk at times attacks and kills comparatively 

 large birds is vouched for by Mr. 0. S. Brimley, of Kaleigh, N. C, and 

 Mr. W. G. W. Leizear, of Sandy Spring, Md., both of whom have sur- 

 prised it while feeding on fuU-grown quail. And we have found remains 

 of the meadowlark in the stomachs examined. 



The following species of mammals and birds were positively identi- 

 fied among the stomach contents: 



MAMMALS. Sturnella magna negleeta. 



Arvicola riparius. Jgelaius phmnicem. 



Armoola austerus. "^"""o hyemalis. 



Mus muscalua. Poocwtes gramineus. 



Sitomys amerieanus. Spizella monticola. 



Sitomya a. micMganensis. Spizella pusilla. 



Blarina exilipes. Meloapiza fasciata. 



Slanna hrevicauda. Passer domesticus. 



Sigmodon hispidua. ^^^'^o solitarius. 



BIRDS. Zonotrichia coronata, 



„ , . . 77- • ^ Zonotrichia I, i/nterinedia, 



GolumbiqaUina passenna. ^ „ , , "■^".■■u.. 



cj 77 ™„ TImjothorm ludomoianus. 



Sturnella magna. 



This little Hawk guards the vicinity of its home or hunting ground 

 with zealous care, resenting the invasions of the larger species. The 

 writer has often seen a Eed-tailed or Eed-shouldered Hawk enter a 

 locality in which a Sparrow Hawk was perched on the top of some 

 tall tree, evidently thinking he had a prior right to the whole region. 

 As soon as the large hawk approached near enough the Sparrow Hawk 

 launched out in pursuit, and in a very short time the intruder was con- 

 vinced that hunting could be carried on to better advantage in other 

 places. In making an attack the Sparrow Hawk always rises above its 

 enemy and darts down, striking with bill and talons. 



In a locality where it is very little molested it is quite tame and un- 

 suspecting, often allowing a person to approach as near as 20 yards 



