Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/180

 The American Sparrow Hawk us the ground with a not very rapid motion and seiae its humhle game of a grasillnppu and ﬂy back to a perrh and eat it.

Hi: Pigeon Hawlt amt SItarp-sltinnml Hawk make a ten- r: .id willgrslmkts and llwn sail for some distant-e. The Sparrow Hawk hunts and parcltrs in open plan-s. while the Sharp-shinnetl Hawk eontines itself to the wnotls and thickets. purrlting in a true where it may be hidden. The note ot the sparrow Hawk i, uti/tee. ltII/n'. l-illm'.‘ heard will always save tu distinguish this specie\ trom the too ullleh willl whit-h it may he enntnunded,

Another vcn‘ excellent meant ot itlcntiﬁt'ntiun ol the Sparrow Hawk, it seen at or heat

which ullt‘r

its nesting site. is the location of thr nesl; il it is in a hole nl any kind it is almost surt' m lulong to a Sparrow Hawk. while if it is a nest built of stiﬂh and other matcrial in Kllr branches of a tree it it equallv sure to he the nest of a Pigeon or Sltarp-sltinnrll Hank

As the Pigeon Hawk is not ollttt lntlnll breeding within (it: limits "i the llltitrtl Statrs. tlt: tree nest. il iuuml «unit of 1 Canadian lmrtler. will very likely lw tllat of the Sharpr shinned Han-k.

Thai: several distinguishing marks are ,lzivull with the cartlasl hope that iarllll'l’s. sports men anti others who. in the past. have killerl all Hawks. will in the luture spar: lllt Spar- row Hawk. owing to its great value to agriculture, Whrn in tluuht regarding the itlt‘ntity of a small Hawk, give the ltcnctit oi the li0|ll|l to the Hawk. and relrain from killing it, tor you mat- thus spat: a raluahle hird, Itclonging to a spucics that tltlring eretv twelt't- montlu

renders servicc tn the agricultural industry of Ill: «many that is far heyuntl t‘nmpulation, but it measured in tlollars and Cents woultl r uh m \'eri' high ﬁgures.

This appeal tor protertion ot the sparrow Hawks, and the «ate-merit. its In their value. would he worthless it they could not he suppunttl by fut/J.

tn lhcexltaustive report on this spcries. made in .393. by Dr. A. K. Fisher, at the United States Department of Agriculture. will he found indisputable facts that prove the altsnlttte value of this Hawk as a gras hopper. and rodent-destroyer. and. on the other hand. will show how little harm it does.

Three huntlrctl anll liven!) stuntat-hs wrrt: rxantinetl, which llatl littﬂll.l'llll£(‘l€li in witlrli separated pans ol rherountrr, aml in all scasnnsul the year. to only one slotlmt‘lt new

TM in” shows that the

sporlslucn hate naexcuse tor killing a Sparrow Hawk. a.- it certainly does not molest gamer

found remains ol a galtle-llirtl: tit altooontained 19 imeetat.

birds. Fifty-three stomachs (‘mllainetl remains of Uth hinls. the species being one that “Yell on or very near the ground. In almost every instance the stomachs of these 5; Hawks container]. in addition. insrcts or rotletlts of some kind. g mitt: oi some species. while 24 Hawks had been cating other mammals, reptiles or hatrat-hiam. Tth

Eighty-nine hirtls had been eat

hundred and titteen lvittls had heen eating inaetta ol \'arintts‘ kintls. largely grasshoppers. crickets. beetles. caterpillars. etu. August, contained 3U crit-ktls: another. L'Ulil'l‘leli In Dakota county. Neltras

it stomach ot a Hawk t'nllct'tetl at Lackpon. N. \’., in .. in tall. contained a gopher antl 33 ins Elsi; another. lrom treilar rot-my. Nebraska. in Augttsl,

contained 3; grasshoppers. 2+ Crickets, i tlragon-lly amt 2 spider. a West Virginia hirtl had eaten 25 grasiltuppns. to katvditls and lo crickets: an Alabama hird. late in Novem- ber, had eaten 25 grasshoppers. 5 cricktts and z iarl'zr; while another. in February. had eaten a cotton IﬂL

Drr Fisher snntmarites as lollutvs: " l‘he subject of thy load of this Hawk is one (If grut intrrest. and. considered itl its ectmunlir hearings. is one that shoultl l): carelullv sttlllietl, The Sparrow Hawk is almost exclusively ittscrtivurons. except when inset-t iuorl is tlillicult to obtain. In localities w’crt grasshoppers and crickets are abundant these Hawks congrcgale. olten in ntmlerarc tml ﬂocks. and gorge themselves continuously. Rarely do they touch any other form oi foot! until either by the advancing season or other natural causes the grasshopper crop is so lessened that thcir hunger cannot be appeased without unrltl: exertion. Then other kinds of insects and other forms of life contribute to