208 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



and frogs, but paying little attention to poultry or small birds. 

 It takes a great variety of food : two hundred and twenty 

 specimens, taken during every month of the year in thirteen 

 widely separated States, Territories, and Provinces, were ex- 

 amined by Dr. Fisher. Two of these contained chickens, 

 with a fair probability that they had not been killed by the 

 hawk ; one, a quail ; twelve, other birds, including a flicker, 

 meadow-lark, screech-owl, Carolina dove, snow-bird, sora rail, 

 robin, crow, and various sparrows ; one hundred and two, 

 mice, including the house, pine, field, white-footed, red-backed, 

 and meadow varieties, chiefly the latter; forty had eaten other 

 mammals, among which were the musk-rat, chipmunk, skunk, 

 rabbit, opossum, and various shrews ; twenty contained rep- 

 tiles, including ribbon, water, striped, garter, and green snakes, 

 as well as lizards ; thirty-nine had eaten batrachians, princi- 

 pally frogs, though toads, tree-frogs, and salamanders were also 

 present ; ninety-two contained insects, the most important ele- 

 ment being grasshoppers and crickets, although large caterpil- 

 lars, beetles, white grubs, katydids, cicadas, and cockroaches 

 were also present ; sixteen of the hawks had eaten spiders ; 

 seven, crawfish; one, earthworms; two, offal; three, fish; 

 while fourteen stomachs contained nothing. Such a showing 

 as this ought to convince any one of the general beneficence of 

 a bird whose food consists of sixty-five per cent, of mice and 

 not more than one per cent, of poultry. 



The typical form of the Red-tailed Hawk is found in eastern 

 North America, ranging west as far as the Great Plains, while 

 five closely allied geographical races occupy the western 

 portion of the continent from Central America northward. 

 It is one of our larger hawks, usually measuring nearly or 

 quite two feet in length and having a wing expanse of four or 

 five feet. It is a migratory species, often travelling in large 

 flocks and spending the winter in the Central and Southern 

 States. In many regions it is common and is often persecuted 

 as a hen-hawk. 



