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REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS'. 
Speotyto Gloger. 
S. cunicularia hypogcea (Bp.). Burrowing Owl. 
Numerous in all suitable localities through this region. 
FALCONIDtE—H awks, Eagles, etc. 
Circus Lacdpbde. 
C. cyaneu8 hudsonius (L.). Marsh Hawk. 
Very numerous in every suitable locality. 
Accipitkr Bonaparte. 
A.fuscu8 (Gm.). Sharp-shinned Hawk. 
A single specimen only of this hawk was obtained, at the Columbia River, in Octo¬ 
ber. 
A. cooperi (Bon.). Cooper’s Hawk. 
Appears to be much more numerous in this region than the preceding. Seen on the 
Columbia in October. 
Astur Jard. and Selby. 
A. atricapiUus (Wils.). American Goshawk. 
, This tine hawk was seen at several points along the Cascade Mountains in Oregon, 
where it, without doubt, breeds. 
I had very little chance to observe its habits; probably they do not differ essentially 
from those of its smaller relatives. One that I shot on the Williamson’s River was in 
hot chase of a kingfisher, which he doubtless would have seized in another moment. 
Another, on the same river, was noticed chasing- a night heron. The attack was per¬ 
sistently kept up, but evidently with no intention on the part of the hawk of making 
the heron his prey. Forcing the heavy-winged heron into the open, the hawk would 
close in and apparently give the ungainly bird a buffet with his wing, which each time 
produced a loud and discontented squawk. It occurred to me, as a possible solution 
of the motive of the hawk, that he iutended to force his victim to throw up any fish 
it might have secured, and so furnish him an easy dinner. 
Falco Linnaeus. 
F. lanariuspolyagrus (Cass.). Prairie Falcon. 
A widely-diffused species, and common in certain localities of this region, as near 
Camp Bidwell. 
In the fall its habits as truly entitle it to the appellation of “duck hawk” as its 
relative the F. anatum. The latter, although not falling under our observation, cer¬ 
tainly occurs in this region, but by no means as commonly as its ally. 
F. richardsom. Richardson’s Falcon. 
The presence of this falcon was noted in several localities in Oregon and Northern 
California, and two specimens in immature plumage were taken. 
F. sparverius (L.). Sparrow-Hawk. 
Very common throughout this whole region. 
The west side of Chewancan Valley had suffered severely from a visitation of that 
scourge of the western farmer, the grasshoppers. Here in August the sparrow-hawks had 
assembled in hundreds and were holding high carnival, and although in instances like 
the present their numbers prove wholly insufficient to cope against the vast myriads 
of these destructive insects, yet the work of the sparrow-hawk is by no means so in¬ 
significant that it should not be remembered to his credit and earn him well-merited 
protection. His food consists almost entirely of grasshoppers when they are to he had 
and as his appetite appears never to become satiated, the aggregate in numbers which 
are annually destroyed by him must be enormous. 
Buteo Cuvier. 
B. swainsoni (Bp.). Swainsou’s Hawk. 
Very numerous in summer in the low partially-wooded country near the mountains. 
1 noticed more of these hawks in Northern California than farther south, but this in- 
