The American Kestrel 



per cent more than their brothers (using the male weight as a base of 

 reference). 



Miss Sherman's painstaking study is of exceptional value in its 

 implied suggestion that the dominance of the female among Raptors may 

 be due to selective feeding. Verily the hand that rocks the cradle rules 

 the world. Brethren, we must make our peace with these ladies, or — 

 Quien sabe? 



The question of the Sparrow Hawk's food is one of considerable 

 importance. That it does occasionally eat birds there can be no doubt. I 

 have several times frightened a Sparrow Hawk from a quarry of young 

 Meadowlarks; and once, at Goose Lake, found the Kestrel making a 

 luncheon off an adult female Brewer Blackbird. In the latter case the 

 head had already been eaten, with the exception of the bill. When a 

 questing Sparrow Hawk finds a fledgling, it is likely to return and clean 

 up the brood. Yet the preponderance of testimony is overwhelmingly in 

 favor of the "Sparrow" Hawk. The consumption of birds seems to be 

 largely a matter of individual taste. The toll taken is not large, and it is 

 probable that bird-killing is indulged only at critical seasons, such as the 

 period of maximum demand on the part of young, and the winter season 

 when other food may be scarce. Ordinarily the smaller birds do not seem 

 to fear the Sparrow Hawk, and they will flit about a tree which contains 

 this watchful Falcon with perfect unconcern. 



Without question, insects, such as grasshoppers, beetles, and crickets, 

 form the chief articles of Sparverian diet; while spiders, lizards, shrews, 

 meadow mice, and small snakes are seized as occasion offers. The minis- 

 trations of the Sparrow Hawk, the American Kestrel, are exceedingly 

 beneficial to the farmer. 



Taken in San Luis Obispo County 



SUNSET ON THE PALOPRIETA 



Photo by the Author 



1642 



