THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
53 
quantity of food daily devoured by a 
grasshopper as equal to its own weight; 
consequently, if these grasshoppers 
had been spared by the hawks, the 
farmers would have lost in one month 
thirty tons of produce. But each hawk 
doubtless eats at least 200 grasshoppers 
daily, which would double the amount, 
making sixty tons. This is the work 
of a month for only 300 hawks. What 
estimate can be placed on the services 
of the hundreds of thousands which 
are engaged in the saftie business for 
months at a time? 
-What excuse can a man offer for 
wantonly slaughtering these birds? In 
many places, says Dr. Fisher, the 
author of the paper just quoted, hawks 
are all that are left of the mighty army 
which once waged war against the 
grasshoppers and kept them in check. 
The game birds, such as the wild tur¬ 
keys, grouse and quail have been 
swept away by the ruthless hand of 
man, and even the skunks, foxes and 
snakes are rapidly folloiwng. 
The broad-winged hawk, a medium 
sized species common throughout the 
Eastern United States, feeds largely 
on insects, small mammals, snakes, 
toads and frogs, and occasionally on 
small birds. It is especially fond 
of the large caterpillars of 
the large moths which feed upon, 
the leaves of fruit and shade trees. 
These insects are too big and formid¬ 
able for the smaller insectivorus birds 
to attack; hence their principle enemies 
are the hawks. The broad-winged 
hawk devours great numbers of grass¬ 
hoppers, crickets and May beetles, 
probably the greatest damage done by 
it is in the destruction of toads and 
snakes, which are mainly insectivorus, 
and hence highly beneficial to the 
farmer. 
The sparrow-hawk, found through¬ 
out the United States, is the smallest 
and handsomest of our birds of prey, 
and with the possible exception of the 
red-tail, the best known. At times it 
follows the example of its larger rel¬ 
atives and attacks small birds, but 
these irregularities are so infrequent 
that they are more than outweig'hed 
by its good services in destroying in¬ 
sects and mice. Grasshoppers, crick¬ 
ets and other insects form its chief 
food during the warm weather, while 
mice predominate during the rest of 
the year. On account of the ’sparrow- 
hawks lack of fear it is one of the 
species that suffers most from the un¬ 
just bounty laws. Any vandal who 
can carry a gun is able to slaughter 
this little hawk. 
The golden eagle eats game, such as 
fawns, rabbits, woodchucks, prairie 
dogs, and ground squirrels, also tur¬ 
keys, grouse and waterfowl. At times 
it also troubles the young of domestic 
animals, notably lambs, pigs goats and 
poultry. It has been known to attack 
calves and colts. Over extensive areas 
of the West the golden eagle helps to 
keep many species of noxious rodents 
in check. In the more thickly inhab¬ 
ited regions, however, where such food 
is scarce, they often do great damage 
by carrying off lambs, young pigs, 
kids, and chickens. As many as 400 
lambs are reported to have been taken 
from contiguous ranges in one season. 
The bald eagle, the national emblem, 
is found throughout the United States. 
Its favorite food is fish, and where the 
latter can be obtained it will touch 
little ejse. A considerable part of the 
fish secured is taken from the fish- 
hawk; yet the eagle is capable of fish¬ 
ing for itself when necessity demands. 
Where fish are hard to obtain it will 
feed on water-fowl from the size of 
the swan down. Like the golden 
V 
