THE FOOD OF NESTLING BIRDS. 29I 



Red -winged Blackbird. — Both adults and nestlings 

 are seed-eaters only to the extent of one per cent of their 

 diet; the other ninety-nine per cent being wee\'ils, leaf 

 beetles, grasshoppers, and dragon flies. 



Kingbird. — The adults feed on beetles, many of them 

 being asparagus beetles and rose beetles, besides horse 

 flies and other flies injurious to stock; and in addition, 

 the adult does much service in driving away crows, 

 sharp-shinned hawks, and Cooper's hawk, all of which, 

 although they are larger than he is, are bravely attacked 

 by the kingbird. He feeds his nestlings on crickets, 

 grasshoppers, moths, and beetles. 



Cooper's Hawk; Sharp-shinned Hawk; Goshawk. — 

 The adults feed on smaller birds, most of them of great 

 value, and on chickens, quails, grouse, and ducks. The 

 sharp-shinned hawk is one of our smallest hawks, measur- 

 ing from ten to twelve inches in the male and a little 

 larger in the female. The upper parts are slaty gray and 

 the under parts are whitish. The wings underneath are 

 white and the tail is white at the tip. Cooper's hawk 

 is a much larger bird, but looks very much like the 

 sharp-shinned in coloring. The tail is rounded instead 

 of square. The pictures of these birds ought to be 

 sought, so that one may learn just how they look, for 

 the purpose of recognizing and killing them whenever 

 they are seen. 



Sparrow Hawk. — Our smallest hawk; bright reddish- 

 brown on crown, back, and tail ; outer tail feathers white, 

 under parts of the body yellowish; some black bars, 

 usually, on head, neck, and breast. This hawk is almost 

 exclusively insectivorous, eating more grasshoppers than 

 most other birds put together, and feeding its nestlings 

 on the same diet. 



