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near Wick ford. This is the only record for Rhode Island. Mr. 
G. M. Gray purchased and mounted this bird and it is being well 
taken care of. Last and rare we have the Richardson’s or 
Sparrow Owl, an accidental winter visitor. 
In pursuit of their legitimate prey, the hawks, Red-shouldered, 
Red-tailed, Cooper’s, Sharp-skinned, Goshawk, and Pigeon Hawk, 
may he surprised at any time, though of course they are never 
common. Mr. Waldo Lord, of Providence, has captured one 
Sparrow Hawk. All the larger kinds are commonly called lien 
Hawks or Chicken Hawks, but these names, in this State, apply 
to nothing in particular. The student trying to identify his 
captures, will be at first sorely puzzled by the hawks, as the 
plumage of the first and second years varies so much that they 
almost appear like different species. It would seem that the 
hawks are a much maligned race, and their true habits not well 
understood ; generally supposed to be of no value, and predatory 
on the poultry yard, they are killed without mercy. 
A more exact understanding of their habits may serve to place 
them in a pleasanter light. Mr. Charles Dury in a paper read 
before the Cincinnati .Society of Natural History, gave the result 
of examinations made by himself, of the stomachs of some eight 
hawks, two eagles, and thirty-one owls, killed between November 
io, 1SS4, and May 22, 1SS5, most of them during the winter 
months. Three hawks contained grasshoppers, two contained 
mice, and three, small birds. Two eagles contained fish and rats. 
One great homed owl contained hair; one, chicken ; and one, 
quail. Of other owls thirteen contained mice, thirteen contained 
insects, one contained a bird and one contained an English Spar¬ 
row. The amount of benefit derived from those birds would 
seem to be much in excess of the injury. 
During January 1SS4, there arrived in Rhode Island large 
flocks of Pine Grosbeaks; they were plenty all over the State, 
but when the cold weather left us, they also left and I have known 
of none since. 
About the time that winter reigns supreme, there comes to 11s 
large flocks of the Snow Flake or Snow Bunting. Beautiful 
birds, with white feathers in their wings and tails, and the spot¬ 
less white of their under parts in marked contrast with the black 
