. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. SPARROW-HAWK AND DUCK-HAAVK 227 number of grasshoppers it consumes in a year is enormous. It never molests poultry, and when insects are obtainable never kills a song- bird, but it does destroy great numbers of mice. Dr. Fisher reports that of 320 stomachs exam- ined, 215 contained insects; 29, spiders; 89, mice; 12, other mammals; 53, small birds; 1 game-bird, and 29 were empty. Many stomachs contained from 10 to 35 grasshoppers each, and of other insects, from 25 to 40 in
. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. SPARROW-HAWK AND DUCK-HAAVK 227 number of grasshoppers it consumes in a year is enormous. It never molests poultry, and when insects are obtainable never kills a song- bird, but it does destroy great numbers of mice. Dr. Fisher reports that of 320 stomachs exam- ined, 215 contained insects; 29, spiders; 89, mice; 12, other mammals; 53, small birds; 1 game-bird, and 29 were empty. Many stomachs contained from 10 to 35 grasshoppers each, and of other insects, from 25 to 40 in one bird was of common occurrence. It must be noted at this point that when the Sparrow-Hawk is rearing its young, it does some- times catch young chickens; but the extreme infrequency of this may be judged from the fact that in the entire series of 320 specimens ex- amined at Washington, taken at all seasons from January to December, and throughout a wide range of localities, not one stomach con- tained any remains of a domestic bird. In the early spring, before grasshoppers come, Sparrow- Hawks often follow a plough very closely, to capture the mice that are ploughed up. Some- times this bird is half domestic in its habits, and nests in buildings erected by man. Wherever it is found, it should be a welcome visitor. The Pigeon-Hawk 1 is a slightly larger bird than the preceding, very destructive to song- birds, of little use to man, and deserves to be shot wherever found. It kills sparrows, thrushes, goldfinches, vireos, bobolinks, swifts, and a host of other species. Out of 5G specimens examined by Dr. Fisher, 41 contained .small song-birds, and 2 poultry; 2 only had mice, and 16 insects. This is a bird of plain colors, being bluish-gray or brownish above, and lighter below. Apparently the Duck Hawk,"^ a geographic race of the Peregrine Falcon, never devours a mouse or an insect save by mistake. Out of 20 specimens, 7 contained game-birds or poultry, 9 had eaten song-bi
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