LIST AND DESCRIPTION 85 



343. Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus.) 



This bird is only fairly common in South Dakota. Its 

 range is farther east. Size fifteen to eighteen inches, the female 

 larger. Upper parts dark brown ; feathers on nape white at base ; 

 under parts irregularly barred with white and buff; under tail 

 with two white bands and a white tip. The young are usually 

 much darker both above and below. The belly is not barred 

 but is streaked with blackish brown and tawny. On September 

 25, 1915, a young specimen was sent to the University Museum 

 and, upon examination, the crop and stomach showed the fol- 

 lowing contents : thirteen large grasshoppers, two field mice, and 

 one frog. These would be sufficient food for this Hawk for not 

 more than one day. A similar supply would be used daily 

 throughout August and September, when mice and grasshoppers 

 are most destructive to ripening crops. The Hawks are each 

 worth fifteen dollars annually to the farmers of South Dakota 

 because they devour mice and grasshoppers that would destroy 

 crops of that vlaue. 



347a. Rough-legged Hawk (Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis.) 



This Hawk nests north of the United States and comes to 

 us as a spring and fall migrant. 



The male is about twenty, and the female about twenty- 

 two inches in length. On account of its remarkable variation in 

 plumage the bird is difficult of description. The fact that it is 

 feathered to the toes, however, easily distinguishes it from any 

 Hawk thus far listed from South Dakota. The back and upper 

 wing feathers are usually dark slaty black, mingled with reddish 

 brown or buff, the head and hind neck being lighter. The under 

 parts are buff mixed with black, except that on the lower belly 

 there is usually a very dark area. The under tail is nearly white 

 with a black band near the tip. The young average darker than 

 the adults. 



Its diet of mice, gophers, grasshoppers, frogs and snakes 

 easily places it in the protective list. 



348. Ferruginous Rough-leg (Anchibuteo ferrugineus.) 



This Hawk is slightly larger than the preceding, measur- 

 ing from twenty-two to twenty-five inches in length, the female 

 being the larger. Like the Rough-legged Hawk, it is feathered 



