118 THE HAWKS AND OWLS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



we are unable to appreciate. Feeding on insects so exclusively as 

 they do, it is to be presumed that they destroy a considerable number 

 of beneficial kinds, as well as spiders, which they find in the same 

 localities as the grasshoppers. However, examination of their stomach 

 contents shows the number to be so small, compared with that of the 

 noxious species, that it is hardly worth considering. 



After the severe frosts of autumn and in winter, when insect life is 

 at its lowest ebb, the Sparrow Hawks devote more time to the capture 

 of mice and small birds. As a rule, the birds which they capture at 

 this time are ground- dwelling species, which simulate the movements 

 of mice by running in or about the dry grass and weeds. They are 

 mostly sparrows, more or less seed-eating, and hence not among the 

 species most beneficial to the agriculturist. At this season it is com- 

 mon to see Sparrow Hawks sitting on the poles over hay stacks, or sta- 

 tioned where they can command a good view of the surroundings of a 

 hay mow or grain crib, ready at any moment to drop upon the mouse 

 which is unfortunate enough to show itself. In this way they manage 

 to destroy a vast number of mice during the colder months. 



In the spring, when new ground or meadow is broken by the plow, 

 they often become very tame if not molested. They fly down, even 

 alighting under the very horses for an instant in their endeavor to cap- 

 ture an unearthed mouse or insect. 



The following extract from a letter from W. P. McGlothlin, of Dayton, 

 Columbia County, Wash., dated February 12, 1887, contains some inter- 

 esting facts on this particular subject: u There is a small hawk here 

 called the Sparrow Hawk. It comes about the 1st of March and leaves 

 with its young about August 1st. On their arrival they are in large 

 flocks and seem very hungry. I have had a number follow my team 

 all day long and even alight for a moment on the plow beam. When a 

 mouse was unearthed it was captured in an instant and quickly killed. 

 The hawks seem to know just when their victims are dead. They settle 

 on something suitable to their fancy and commence eating the eyes, and 

 then soon finish. For two weeks this mouse catching goes on. I have 

 sometimes seen them chase and catch small birds. They pair off and 

 drive some woodpecker from his cozy nest in an old tree, where they 

 lay from four to six eggs. When they have young, the small chickens 

 must suffer. About two each day for every nest seems to satisfy them." 



Mr. Thomas Mcll wraith, in his c Birds of Ontario, 7 gives the follow- 

 ing on the food of this Hawk: " Though sometimes seen near the farm- 

 house it does not bear the stigma of having felonious intentions toward 

 the occupants of the poultry yard, but is credited with the destruction 

 of large numbers of mice. # * * It also feeds freely on snakes, 

 lizards, grasshoppers, etc., but has the true falcon etiquette of taking 

 only what is newly killed" (p. 150). 



In the opinion of many people, unaccountable as it may appear, the 

 benefit accruing from the destruction of a great number of mice or other 



