Proceedings of the Society. 



69 



birds very often. I saw one make the attempt on a lark bunting; the 

 hawk poised in the air at a height of about twenty yards for fully a 

 minute, fell heavily, with an awkward thrust of the talons, and 

 missed. Those I shot after midsummer all had their craws stuffed 

 k with grasshoppers/' 



Audubon says of the American barn owl : " After long observa- 

 tion, I am satisfied that our bird feeds entirely on the smaller species 

 of quadrupeds, for I have never found any portions of birds about 

 their nests, not even the remains of a single feather in the pellets 

 which they regurgitate, and which are alwa} r s formed of the bones and 

 hair of quadrupeds." 



In "Land Birds and Game Birds of New England," Minotsays: The 

 food of the well known great horned owls consists of " rabbits, 

 squirrels, skunks, partridges, poultry and the like;" and of the 

 Cooper's hawk, commonly known as chicken hawk, they feed on 

 " rabbits, squirrels, water fowl, and other birds, but not often on the 

 smaller kinds, as I have seen those near them, or about their nests, 

 disregarded." The same author, page 364, 'describing the habits of 

 our abundant red-shouldered hawk, says: "they do not often catch 

 our so called partridges, owing to the latter's rapid flight, and rather 

 persistent occupation of the woods, and it is not uncommon to find 

 these game birds in groves where the hen hawks have their nests." 



Dr. A. J. Ho we, of this city, informs me " that he found in the stomach 

 of a bald eagle the remains of several Norway rats;" think of it, the 

 proud emblem of our country dining on the common house rat. 



I have received the following letters on this subject from Prof. Spen- 

 cer F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C, and 

 from Dr. Elliott Coues, the well-known ornithologist. The world-wide 

 reputation of these gentlemen as authority on zoological questions 

 will certainly demand, for their opinions, your greatest consideration. 



Washington, April 10, 1882. 



Dear Sir: — The destruction of hawks will save an occasional 

 fowl, but will cause a great increase in the abundance of field-mice, 

 rabbits, squirrels, snakes, frogs, etc., upon which the hawks feed. 



It has now been conclusively shown, I think, that hawks perform an 

 important function in maintaining in good condition the stock of game- 

 birds, by capturing the weak and sickly, and thus preventing repro- 

 duction from unhealthy parents. One of the most plausible hpyo- 

 theses, explanatory of the occasional outbreaks of disease among the 

 grouse of Scotland, has been the extermination of these correctives, 

 the disease being most virulent where the gamekeepers were most 



