AGRICULTURAL NATURE STUDY OUTLINES 
75 
Cooper or Bullet Hawk ( Accipiter coopcri). —A fast flying hawk of medium 
size with light spotted breast, slaty back, and long tail banded with dark 
brown. Usually seen darting with quick stroke of wing near trees and 
thickets or high in air. A permanent resident. This is the real chicken hawk. 
Feeds on birds of all kinds, often preying upon quail and poultry. The 
sharp-skinned hawk is similar to the cooper hawk in coloration and habits 
but is only half its size, and a winter visitant; both are unprotected by law. 
Sparrow Hawk ( Falco sparverius sparverius) .—Small reddish-brown hawk with 
black cheek marks. Usually seen perched on telegraph or fence posts or 
hovering over open fields. Permanently resident. Beneficial as a destroyer 
of grasshoppers, crickets, and mice; seldom if ever attacks birds. 
Barn Owl or Monkey-faced Owl ( Aluco pratincole). —Upper parts finely 
mottled with gray and light brown; under parts white or light brown; face 
whitish. Usually seen in barns, hollow trees, or in the evening flying in 
search of food. Permanently resident. One of the most valuable of birds; 
feeds largely on the pocket gopher; has been known to capture as many as 
fifteen pocket gophers in one night. 
Burrowing Owl or Billy Owl ( Speotyto cunicularia hypogasa ).—Brownish, 
barred with lighter brown and white; legs long for an owl; usually seen at 
entrance to squirrel burrow or perched on fence post. Permanently resident. 
Feeds on mice, ground squirrels, lizards, beetles, grasshoppers, and other 
insects; a valuable ally of the farmer. 
Red-shafted Fucker or Yellowhamer ( Colaptes cafer collaris). —Upper parts 
pinkish brown barred with black; shafts of tail beneath and under side of 
wings, red; black collar; conspicuous white rump patch. Permanently resi¬ 
dent. Feeds largely on ants, as many as 3000 having been found in a single 
stomach; also takes wood-boring insects and small quantities of wild fruit; 
does not injure orchard trees. 
California Woodpecker ( Melancrpes formicivorous bairdi). —Upper parts black; 
under parts and rump white; forehead white; chin black margined with 
whitish; black patch on breast; white patch on wings shown in flight. Per¬ 
manently resident. Usually seen on trunks and branches of trees, especially 
on those of oak. Acorns are the favorite food of this bird; these are stored 
in holes drilled in the bark of trees; ants and other insects are also eaten. 
Pacific Nigiitiiawk ( Cliordeiles virginianus hesperis). —Dusky black, barred 
with gray and brown; white patches on wind and throat. Usually seen in 
the evening flying high in the air or over thickets; flushed from ground in 
daytime on occasions. A summer visitant only. Feeds on flying insects such 
as ants, mosquitoes, flies, and moths; especially valuable as a destroyer of 
moquitoes. 
Anna Hummingbird ( Calypte anna). —Upper parts iridescent green; top of head, 
throat, and ruff metallic pink, bronze and green in male. Usually seen 
poised in mid-air over flowers, gathering food. Permanently resident. Feeds 
on tiny insects and nectar found in flowers. 
Black Phoebe ( Sayornis nigricans). —Head and upper parts blackish; under¬ 
parts white; crest on head. Usually seen about small bodies of water, 
bridges, barns, and houses. Permanently resident. A fine destroyer of the 
common house fly, which it sometimes procures from window panes and 
window screens; other flying insects are also eaten. 
