52 
OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 250 
check on destructive rodents that are abroad by day. Poultry and 
birds are taken to an injurious extent by only a few species. The 
powerful talons are used to strike their quarry, and the character¬ 
istic, powerful, hooked beak is used in rending- it. The nests of 
the majority of species are built of sticks, with some grass or finer 
material for lining. When not molested, the same nest is used year 
after year, growing bulkier each season with the addition of new 
material. 
MARSH HAWK, Circus hudsonius (Linn.) 
The occurrence of the Marsh Hawk or Harrier is quite local; it 
is more frequently met with in summer than during winter, but is 
not common at any time or place. It differs from other members 
of the family in perching and nesting on the ground. In hunting, it 
keeps near the ground over meadow or swampland. It is one of the 
larger Hawks and may be known at any season by the conspicuous 
white rump-patch at the base of its long tail. Its wings are long; 
theflight, easy and graceful, is accomplished with no apparent effort. 
It is more sociable than most raptorial birds and frequently hunts in 
pairs. During migrations, straggling flocks of from forty to fifty 
are sometimes seen. The character of its food makes it one of the 
most valuable among the birds of prey. Meadow mice comprise the 
favorite food, and these with ground squirrels and other rodents, 
frogs, snakes, grasshoppers, and crickets complete the usual fare. 
Unless pressed by hunger, because of a scarcity of the usual food, 
poultry or birds are seldom taken; then, only seed-eating species and 
wounded game birds are preyed upon. Protection should beafforded 
this worthy species. 
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, Accipiter velox (Wils.) 
This Hawk, as well as all others of the genus, has a decided 
liking for poultry and birds of all kinds, taking them in preference 
to other food. They are the true “Chicken Hawks”, despite the 
fact that the larger and more beneficial members of the genus Buteo 
are generally referred to as such. This species is the smallest of 
the trio of destructive Hawks, among which the closely allied 
Cooper’s Hawk and the Goshawk are included. It is one of the 
smallest of all our hawks, being but little larger than the Sparrow 
Hawk. The tail is long and square-ended; the wings short. Unlike 
other Hawks, it does not hunt in the open but pounces upon its 
quarry from some leafy retreat. This species is bold and daring, 
frequently attacking and bringing down birds as large or larger 
than itself. The excess of useful birds and poultry over mice and 
insects, comprised in the food of this species, results in an economic 
