12 
MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 28. 
and insect-eating birds. It takes very few mice and a few insects and 
its effect can be generally looked upon with indifference. 
The American Sparrow Hawk (Plate IV A), next to the Sharp- 
shinned, is the smallest of our hawks as well as the most beautifully and 
characteristically marked. The male is bright brick-red on the back and 
tail, the former barred with dark; the shoulders and crown are slate 
blue. Below it is white, washed with light reddish tan across the breast 
where there are numerous round blade spots. There are conspicuous 
black bands across the face in striking contrast to the white background. 
The female is a duller red on back, shoulders, and tail, also barred with 
dark, and below is dull cream heavily streaked with rather suffused 
brown stripes. The face and head carry in slightly subdued form the 
striking markings of the male. 
The principal food supply of the Sparrow Hawk is insects. Of 320 
stomachs examined 215 contained insects, mostly grasshoppers, 89 
mice, and 53 small birds. The latter were all taken between late 
autumn and early spring when insects are not available. There are few 
better friends to the farmer than this little hawk. Wherever there are 
dead stubs containing old flicker holes in which it can nest this is a 
common species throughout southern Canada. It should receive every 
protection and encouragement and it would even pay to put up nesting 
boxes for it where no natural nesting places are available. The farmer 
should regard it as a personal damage to himself when one is killed 
upon his premises. 
FISH HAWK. 
There is only one Fish Hawk in Canada, the Osprey (Plate IV B). 
It is too rare over most of the mid-western provinces to be seriously 
considered here. It lives exclusively upon fish and is seldom found 
away from the larger bodies of water. The fish it takes are rarely of 
economic importance and there are no substantial grounds for perse- 
cuting it. 
It can thus be seen that with the exception of one group, the accipi- 
ters, and some rare falcons, the hawks are highly useful, especially in 
the prairie provinces where small mammals are a serious pest. The 
crop damage done annually by these little animals is realized by every 
prairie farmer and thousands of dollars are regarded as well spent in 
controlling them. Added to the actual crop loss that can be directly 
traced to them it has been found in California and the southwestern part 
of the United States that they have been the instruments of the spread of 
both cattle and human disease. It is well known to-day that some of 
the worst diseases are spread by means of blood-sucking vermin like 
