LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OP CALIFORNIA THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Biology Library BEQUEST OF Theodore S0 Palmer f LIBRARY I OF R. W. WILLIA'MS TALLAHASSEE, FLA. .0; 6 fj> I Iowa Geological Survey Bulletin No. 6 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA By BERT HEALD [BAILEY, M. S., M. D. "You slay them all! and wherefore?" — Longfellow. GEORGE F. KAY, PH. D. STATE GEOLOGIST, JAMES H. LEES, PH. D., ASSISTANT STATE GEOLOGIST DOCUMENTS DtPAKlMtiil APR 26 1956 LIBRARY DES MblNES PUBLISHED FOR THE IOWA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 1918 DES MOINES ROBERT HENDERSON, State Printer JOHN M. JAMIESON, State Binder Catalogue for Btol. Lib, &^ ^ QL 684 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL IOWA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. To Governor William L. Harding and Members of the Geological Board: Gentlemen : I submit herewith a report on the Hawks and Owls of Iowa with the recommendation that it be published as Bulletin 6 of the lowa.Geological Survey. The author of the report is Dr. Bert Heald Bailey, who was for many years Professor of Zoology in Coe College, Cedar Rapids. Doctor Bailey died on June 22, 1917, before his manuscript had been completed, but, fortunately, his ma- terial was in such form that his student and co-worker, Miss Clem- entina Spencer, was able to edit it and make it available for the people of the state. Miss Spencer cannot be commended too highly for the splendid service she has rendered not alone to the friends of Doctor Bailey, but to all persons who are interested in the subject with which the report deals. The view which is prevalent among citizens of the state is that hawks and owls and related birds of prey are detrimental to the agricultural and other interests of the state and that, therefore, all of them, without discrimination, should be destroyed. It is by no means generally understood that these birds of prey are the chief destroyers of rodents and insects, many of which are harmful to crop production. The agriculturist should know that with few ex- ceptions hawks and owls are not his foes but his friends, and he should see to it that every effort is made to preserve rather than vc destroy them. In the publication of this Bulletin on 'Hawks and Owls the Sur- vey feels confident that it is rendering to the people of the state, par- ticularly to the farmers, a service equal to that which has been rendered by Bulletins formerly published by our Survey, among \vhich may be mentioned the Grasses of Iowa, the Weeds of Iowa, and the Rodents of Iowa. I have the honor to be, Sincerely yours, George F. Kay, L- • State Geologist. 963 GEOLOGICAL BOARD. Hon. Wm. L. Harding Governor of Iowa Hon. Frank S. Shaw Auditor of State W. A. Jessup President State University of Iowa Raymond A. Pearson President Iowa State College S. W. Beyer President Iowa Academy of Science ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS. George F. Kay State Geologist James H. Lees Assistant State Geologist Nellie E. Newman.... ....Secretary CONTENTS. Page Editor's Preface 11 Memorial Note of Dr. Bert Heald Bailey - 15 Bibliography of Doctor Bailey - 18 Introduction 19 General Information...?. Sources of Information and Acknowledgment 23 Topography and Distribution 34 How to Measure a Bird 40 Key to Iowa Birds of Prey 40 Key to Iowa Eagles, Hawks, Kites and Falcons 41 Key to Iowa Owls 43 Notes 44 Descriptions of Iowa Birds of Prey 46 Order Raptores. Birds of Prey 46 Siiborder, Sarcorhamphi. American Vulturer 46 Family Cathartidae. American Vultures 46 Genus Cathartes 46 Cathartes aura septentrionalis. Turkey Vulture 46 Suborder Falcones. Vultures, Falcons, Hawks, Buzzards, Eagles, Kites, Harriers, 'etc 51 Family Buteonidae. Hawks, Eagles, Kites, etc 51 Genus Elanoides 51 Elanoides forficatus. Swallow-tailed Kite 51 Genus Ictinia 56 Ictinia mississippiensis. Mississippi Kite :-. 56 Genus Circus 59 Circus hudsonius. Marsh Hawk 59 Genus Accipiter 69 Accipiter velox. Sharp-shinned Hawk 69 Accipiter cooperi. Cooper's hawk 74 Genus Astur 83 Astur atricapillus atricapillus. Goshawk 83 Astur atricapillus striatulus. Western Goshawk 88 Genus Parabuteo 91 Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi. Harris's Hawk.... .. 91 CONTENTS Page Genus Buteo 93 Buteo borealis borealis. Red-tailed Hawk 93 Buteo borealis krideri. Krider's Hawk 108 Buteo borealis calurus. Western Red-tail 110 Buteo borealis harlani. Harlan's Hawk 112 Buteo lineatus lineatus. Red-shouldered Hawk 115 Buteo swainsoni. Swainson's Hawk 119 Buteo platypterus. Broad-winged Hawk 125 Buteo platypterus iowensis. Iowa broad-winged Hawk . 130 » Genus Asturina 132 Asturina plagiata. Mexican Goshawk 132 Genus Archibuteo 133 Subgenus Archibuteo 133 Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis. Rough- legged Hawk 133 Subgenus Brewsteria 139 Archibuteo ferrugineus. Ferruginous Rough-leg 139 Genus Aquila 142 Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle 142 Genus Haliaeetus 147 Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus. Bald Eagle. 147 Family Falconidae. Falcons, Caracaras, etc 152 Subfamily Falconinae. Falcons 152 Genus Falco ...152 Falco mexicanus. Prairie Falcon 152 Subgenus Rhynchodon 157 Falco perigrinus anatum. Duck Hawk 157 Subgenus Tinnunculus 162 Falco columbarius columbarius. Pigeon Hawk 162 ' Falco columbarius richardsoni. Richardson's Pigeon Hawk 167 Subgenus Cerchneis 169 Falco sparverius sparverius. Sparrow Hawk 169 Family Pandionidae. Ospreys 175 Genus Pandion 175 Pandion halisetus carolinensis. Osprey 175 Suborder Striges. Owls 178 Family Aluconidse. Barn Owls 178 Genus Aluco 178 Aluco pratincola. Barn Owl 178 CONTENTS 7 Page Family Strigidae. Horned Owls -.183 Genus Asio 183 Asio wilsonianus. Long-eared Owl 183 Asio flameus. Short-eared Owl 189 Genus Strix 194 Strix varia varia. Barred Owl 194 Genus Scotiaptex 201 Scotiaptex nebulosa nebulosa. Great Gray Owl 201 Genus Cryptoglaux 203 Cryptoglaux acadica acadica. Saw-whet Owl 203 Genus Otus 208 Otus asio asio. Screech Owl 208 Genus Bubo 214 Bubo virginianus virginianus. Great Horned Owl 214 Genus Nyctea 223 Nyctea nyctea. Snowy Owl 223 Genus Surnia 223 Surnia ulula caparoch. Hawk Owl 228 Genus Speotyto 231 Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea. Burrowing Owl 231 ILLUSTRATIONS. Figure. Page. 1. Portrait of Dr. Bert Heald Bailey 1-1 2. The level Kansan drift plain of northeastern O'Brien county (Lees) .". 20 3. The rolling prairie of the Kansan drift plain of northeastern Washington county (Alden and Leighton) 21 4. The palisades of the Cedar near Mount Vernon (Norton) 24 5. The deep valley of Mississippi river south of Lansing (Calvin) 25 6. The flood plain of the Mississippi below McGregor (Calvin) 25 7. A forested glacial ridge (paha) in Bremer county (Norton) 29 8. A planted grove along the prairie highway in Sac county (Mac- bride) 29 9. The shores and island at Oakwood Park, Clear Lake, Cerro Gor- do county 31 10. Dead Man's Lake, a swamp at the south foot of Pilot Knob, Hancock county (Macbride) 11. The forest filled valley of Little Sioux river at Sioux Rapids, Buena Vista county (Macbride) 35 12. The loess hills bounding the Missouri valley north of Turin, Monona county. The flood plain is visible in the distance (Shimek) 13. Map of Iowa showing life zones 39 14. The Turkey Vulture 46 15. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Turkey Vulture 48 16. The Swallow-tailed Kite 51 17. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Swallow-tailed Kite 53 18. The Mississippi Kite, young bird 56 19. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Mississippi Kite 58 20. The Marsh Hawk 60 21. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Marsh Hawk 63 22. The Sharp-shinned Hawk, adult 68 23. The sharp-shinned Hawk, juvenile male, with Nuthatch 68 24. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Sharp-shinned Hawk — 71 25. Cooper's Hawk, adult 74 26. Cooper's Hawk, young female 75 27. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Cooper's Hawk 77 28. The Goshawk or Big Blue Hen Hawk 82 29. The Goshawk, another view 82 30. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Goshawk 85 31. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Western Goshawk ... 88 32. Harris's Hawk (photo by Professor H. R. Dill) 90 33. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Harris's Hawk 91 34. The Red-tailed Hawk.... 93 ILLUSTRATIONS 9 Figure. Page. 35. The Red-tailed Hawk, another view 93 36. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Red-tailed Hawk 99 37. Krider's Hawk 108 38. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Krider's Hawk 109 39. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Western Red-tail Ill 40. Harlan's Hawk, or Black Red-tail * 112 41. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Harlan's Hawk > 113 42. The Red-shouldered Hawk 115 43. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Red-shouldered Hawk 116 44. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Swainson's Hawk 120 45. The Broad-winged Hawk, showing the wing expanse 124 46. Another view of the Broad-winged Hawk 124 47. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Broad-winged Hawk 127 48. Iowa Broad-winged Hawk (photo by Mr. Wesley F. Kubichek) 130 49. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Iowa Broad- winged Hawk 131 50. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Mexican Goshawk 132 51. Rough-legged Hawks, dark phase, male, above, light phase, fe- male, below 134 52. Rough-legged Hawk, dark phase 135 53. Rough-legged Hawk, light phase 136 54. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Rough-legged Hawk....l37 55. Ferruginous Rough-legged Hawk 139 56. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Ferruginous Rough- legged Hawk 141 57. The Golden Eagle 142 58. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Golden Eagle 144 59. The Bald Eagle , ...147 60. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Bald Eagle 149 61. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Prairie Falcon 154 62. The Duck Hawk (a live bird photographed by Mr. Alfred Bailey in Louisiana, 1916) 153 63. The Duck Hawk (from Cory, Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin) 153 64. Map showing distribution in Iowa of the Duck Hawk 159 65. The Pigeon Hawk 102 66. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Pigeon Hawk 164 67. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Richardson's Pigeon Hawk 168 68. The Sparrow Hawk 169 69. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Sparrow Hawk 171 70. The Osprey (photo by Frank W. Woodruff, Chicago Academy of Sciences) 171 71. The Osprey, another view 174 72. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Osprey ....176 73. The Barn Owl 178 74. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Barn Owl 180 75. The Long-eared Owl ....183 10 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure. Page. 76. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Long-eared Owl 185 77. The Short-eared Owl 189 78. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Short-eared Owl 191 79. The Barred Owl 194 80. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Barred Owl 196 81. The Great Gray Owl 200 82. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Great Gray Owl 202 83. The Saw-whet Owl 203 84. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Saw-whet Owl 205 85. Screech Owls 208 86. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Screech Owl 210 87. The Great Horned Owl 214 88. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Great Horned Owl 218 89. The Snowy Owl 223 90. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Snowy Owl 225 91. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Hawk Owl 229 92. The Burrowing Owl 231 93. Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Burrowing Owl 234 EDITOR'S PREFACE. The death of Professor Bert Heald Bailey, M. S., M. D., head of the Department of Zoology and Curator of the Museum in Coe Col- lege, occurred on June 22, 1917, just a few days after the com- mencement at which he was to have received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the State University of Iowa. During the year 1916-17 Dr. Bailey held the senior fellowship at the University and was availing himself of a year's leave of absence from Coe College in order that he might finish as a thesis this work on the Raptorial Birds of Iowa, a subject which had specially interested him since boyhood. At the same time he had in preparation a similar work on the Mammals of Iowa. About the first of April his work was interrupted by a sudden and mysterious illness which necessitated his return to his home in Cedar Rapids and which terminated fatally eleven weeks later. A short time before his death Dr. Bailey asked the writer, who was that year acting as his substitute in Coe College, to go to Iowa City and bring back his papers for safe keeping and at that time the promise was made to help him get out this book as soon as he might be able to work upon it. Doctor Bailey felt that he needed but a few weeks more of un- interrupted time to finish the book. In his hands the different parts of the manuscript would have slipped into their related places as by magic. However, for another person taking up the work there was a greater task involved. Carefully examining every rcrap of paper, fearful lest something should be lost, the editor h?.3 cf':en been obliged to decide what was to have been included and what was to have been discarded. The introduction, though obviously still in rather rough form, has not been changed, but a few minor parts such as the glossary and the keys to Hawks remained to be writ- ten. Some photographs were yet to be made from specimens in the Coe College Museum, and a considerable part of the manu- script was waiting for final copying and arranging. These things are mentioned, not with the desire to take any of the credit for Dr. Bailey's work, but rather that omissions or errors may not be laid to his account. Careful and accurate as he was he would have 12 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA instantly detected anything wrong where another might have passed it by. It will be seen that the bibliographies of the different sp-ecies do not follow the same plan of arrangement. Those of species 1 to 8 inclusive, and of species 9B and 9C give the synonymy of the auth- ors consulted while the remaining bibliographies, although follow- ing the same chronological order, do not give the synonyms under which the birds were described. This change marks the point at which the author's work was interrupted. The writer would gladly have adhered to the author's plan had circumstances permitted her doing so without greatly delaying the appearance of the book, but, lacking the necessary library, the amount of time needed made the advantages of rearrangement appear so slight as to be negligible. It is of interest to note several contributions which Dr. Bailey has made in his work. A new variety of the Broad-winged Hawk is de- scribed, and the first records authenticated by specimens, are made of the Mississippi Kite in Iowa and of the Western Goshawk. Of the last two named species two specimens each have been taken. Doubtless there are many persons who could have completed and edited this work in better form, but surely no one could have under- taken it more willingly or with a deeper sense of gratitude to one who was for twelve years her honored teacher, fellow-worker and friend. CLEMENTINA SINCLAIR SPENCER. COE COLLEGE, JUNE, 1918. DR. BERT HEALD BAILEY BERT HEALD BAILEY, M. S., M. D. MAY 2, 1875— JUNE 22, 1917. Bert Heald Bailey was born in Farley, Iowa, May 2, 1875, his parents being the Rev. Turner S. Bailey and Helen Gee Bailey. At the age of twelve he came with his parents to live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he attended the public schools, Coe Academy, and later was graduated from Coe College. In 1900 he was graduated from Rush Medical College, and in the same year received the degree of Master of Science from Coe College, his thesis being in the field of Bacteriology. It was Dr. Bailey's great ambition to enter the med- ical work of Foreign Missions, but at this time it was found that a heart lesion made foreign service impossible, whereupon he assumed the chair of Zoology in Coe College. To his Alma Mater he came with the same enthusiasm and in the same spirit which would have taken him across the seas, and though doing the things which lay close at hand he was still a world citizen, sending others on the jour- ney he had himself hoped to make. Through intimate first-hand knowledge of the sciences he taught, and a rare sympathetic understanding of his students, ' Dr. Bailey was a truly great teacher. While giving his especial attention to those looking forward to medicine; he was the friend of all, kind, genial, never too busy to advise and encourage those who were per- plexed or disheartened. Hunters, woodsmen, and small boys de- lighted to gather specimens and data for him and freely came to him in turn for help and information. Scientists throughout the country admired the man and respected his work. The Museum which Dr. Bailey built up in Coe College is a last- ing expression of his wide interests, skill and tireless energy. -Al- though burdened by the many duties which fall to an executive col- lege professor, Dr. Bailey found time to build an educational mu- seum which ranks among the first of the college museums of the United States. To the unorganized though valuable nucleus he found in the college, Dr. Bailey added his own boyhood collection of bird's eggs and skins, and set himself the task of interesting every- one he met in his plan to develop a museum which should afford adequate teaching material for the natural sciences. For years every specimen was prepared by his own hands or by students under 16 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA his supervision, then as funds became available he began to secure representative pieces of work from museum technicians in various institutions. In 1905 he made a trip to British Honduras, bringing back a large collection of birds, insects and shells, and the next year he arranged to send two collectors to the same region, with the result that the collection of British Honduras birds ranks as the third largest in the country. In the large series of Iowa birds the splendid collection of Hawks and Owls forms part of the subject material of this thesis. Dr. Bailey was also building up as com- plete a representation as possible of Iowa mammals, including van- ishing species, and was engaged in writing a book upon the Mam- mals of Iowa. Many other rare and valuable additions to the Museum, both zoological and ethnological were made by the alumni and foreign missionaries with whom Dr. Bailey kept in constant touch, thus forming a link between the college and the religious work of the alumni. It was indeed a world-wide horizon which in- spired all his work. At the entrance to the Museum the alumni have placed a bronze tablet with the following inscription : THE BERT HEALD BAILEY MUSEUM. Named in memory of Bert Heald Bailey, M. S., M. D., Professor of Zoology and Curator of the Museum in Coe College, 1900-1917. Beloved Teacher, Friend and Counselor, Able Scientist, Stal- wart Christian. His memory is enshrined in our hearts and in this, the work of his hands. CLEMENTINA SPENCER. THE PUBLICATIONS OF B. H. BAILEY. It is not certain that the following list is complete, but in ad- dition to these Dr. Bailey furnished many facts for "The Birds of Iowa," by Dr. R. M. Anderson: The Duck Hawk (Falco peregrinus anatum) in Iowa: Proc. Iowa Acad. Science, Vol. X, pp. 93-98, 1902. Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, Cedar Rapids, 1906. The Occurrence of Melanism in the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo latissi- mus) : Proc. Iowa Acad. Set, XIX, pp. 191-192, 1912. A Remarkable Flight of Broad-winged Hawks: Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., XIX. pp. 195-196, 1912. Notes on the Food of the Black-crowned Night Heron in Captivity: Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., XIX, p. 193, 1912. Birds of Iowa: Iowa Arbor and Bird Day Book, 1913. • The Building and Function of a College Museum: Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., XXII, pp. 358-362, 1915. Notes on the Prairie Spotted Skunk in Iowa: Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., XXII, pp. 355-357, 1915. The Mississippi Kite in Nebraska: Wilson Bui., XXVII, pp. 407-408, 1915. Bird Conservation in Iowa: Proc. of the Iowa Forestry and Conservation Assn., pp. 31, 32, 1914-15. Science in the High School: The College Eyte, Cedar Falls, May 3, 1916. Additional Notes on the Little Spotted Skunk (Spilogala interrupta) : Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., XXIII, p. 290, 1916. Successful Mink Farming in Iowa: Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., XXIII, pp. 285- 290, 1916. Krider's Hawk (Buteo borealis krideri) in Alaska: Auk, XXXIII, p. 321, 1916. Description of a new sub-species of the Broad-winged Hawk: Auk, XXXIV. pp. 73-75, 1917. Why the Quail Should Be Protected: Des Moines Register, March 28, 1917. The Western Goshawk in Iowa: Auk, XXXIV, p. 336, 1917. The Mammals of our State: Iowa Conservation, January-March, 1917, pp 13-14. THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Introduction. The aim of this work is to convince the people of Iowa that our Hawks and Owls are a positive asset rather than a liability to the agricultural interests of the state. It would be illuminating, if space permitted, to review the unfortunate experiences of Pennsylvania and Colorado, where bounties were paid on these birds with a view to their extermination. It may suffice to say that the expenditure of tens of thousands of dollars in bounties resulted in the loss of millions of dollars in crops which the unchecked rodents and the in- sects, the natural food of these birds, subsequently devoured. A review of the notable series of records by Dr. A. X. Fisher, in •his Hawks and Owls of the United States, reveals the fact that of the 2,690 stomach records from seventy-three species there listed, only twenty-one are from Iowa birds, five counties being represented by ten different species. Of the 562 stomachs of the Red-tailed Hawk listed by Dr. Fisher there is the report on but a single Iowa specimen, although the Red-tailed Hawk is the most conspicuous of our diurnal birds of prey. In a state whose wealth lies chiefly in its tillable soil, the protection of growing and ripened crops is of first importance. No factor should be omitted in the problem of increasing the output. Accordingly every agency that can be brought to our assistance in the prevention of the annual destruction of seed, or blade, or ripened grain, should be utilized. The vultures, hawks and owls of Iowa, represented by no less than forty kinds and varieties, are, with the exception of a few species, among the most efficient of all agencies, natural or otherwise, that protect the crops of Iowa. These birds respond aggressively to that primal instinct, the desire for food, and possess a powerful and rapid digestive apparatus which does not allow the appetite long respite. Their swift, sure flight, sharp talons, and strong beaks make them our best allies in our otherwise unsuccessful fight against insect and rodent enemies. The popular opinion that birds of prey are wholly harmful has so firm a hold on the minds of the majority of people that nothing but a demonstration will change that opinion ; and it is 20 INTRODUCTION to this definite end that the work here undertaken has been ad- dressed. It was some twenty-five years ago that the writer made the first examinations of the stomach contents of raptorial birds upon which this work is based. The appearance in 1903 of Dr. A. K. Fisher's Hawks and Owls of the United States, to which continual reference is herein made, was a very definite stimulus in the keeping of field records, and in the less agreeable though more informing task of examining the stomachs. During succeeding years, as opportunity offered, both dissections and field observations have been made. Birds of prey as a rule are not easily studied in the field, because of Fig. 2. — The level Kansan drift plain of northeastern O'Brien county (Loos). their naturally shy or distrustful dispositions. Of the individuals killed relatively few reached the hands of an ornithologist. In con- sequence the data obtained during a single season or within a year are insufficient as a basis for generalizations concerning a species, a series of years being required for the collection of adequate data. Furthermore, the existing collections of skins of the raptorial birds to be found in even the leading American museums are sadly de- ficient in data relative to the stomach contents of the birds at the time of preparation, only an occasional bit of information being available from these sources. GENERAL INFORMATION 23 In the year 1904, and again in 1905, a circular letter was directed to various parts of the state, requesting that such hawks and owls as should be shot by hunters, farmers and others, be sent to Coe College, where the contents of the stomachs might be examined. The data thus obtained were of sufficient interest to warrant a com- pilation of these, together with other findings ; and at the suggestion of Dr. G. F. Kay, State Geologist, they have here taken the form of a bulletin of the Iowa Geological Survey. The literature of rap- torial birds, particularly such as relates to Iowa, the collections of the various museums, both public and private, and the observations of many friends have all yielded valuable information. The final impetus necessary to the completion of the work was given by the opportunity to spend a year in continuous residence at the State Uni- versity of Iowa, where Professor C. C. Nutting, head of the De- partment of Zoology, to whom I am deeply indebted for criticism and direction, placed within easy access the facilities of the Uni- versity. GENERAL INFORMATION. a. The classification, in the following pages follows that of the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List, 1910, with the excep- tion of a subspecies of the Broad-winged Hawk (B. platypterus Vieillot), hitherto undescribed. b. The number appearing at the left of the name of each species is a serial number pertaining to this work alone, the number at the right is the number given to that species or subspecies in the A. O. U. Check-List. c. The first common name is t,he one generally accepted ; if it is followed by others, these are names of more or less local character. d. The field characters are to assist in the identification of the species at a distance, whether by its size, color, flight, feeding habits, or characteristic haunts. e. The description is of use either with the bird in hand or viewed at close range, and gives the general coloration above and below ; the italics emphasize special marks of identification. /. The measurements are averages, representing neither maxi- mum nor minimum, but the limits between which most specimens will range. g. In general, the range or distribution given pertains to the United States; in special cases the distribution in Iowa and re- marks as to abundance are afterwards noted. 24 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA h. The narrative deals first with the general habits of the spe- cies, after which field observations of the migration, nesting and feeding habits follow. i. Whenever such data are obtainable, the records of stomach contents of birds of prey secured in Iowa, are listed, such records constituting the most dependable evidence of the economic status of each bird in question. y. The maps represent the distribution of the species as actually recorded in ornithological literature, and as observed by dependable naturalists. The maltese cross indicates cases of the occurrence of the bird, and the star instances of its nesting. k. The key is intended to make easy the identification of the hawks and owls of the state. /. The illustrations are for the most part from mounted speci- mens in the Coe College Museum, due credit being given in each instance when specimens have been found elsewhere. m. The bibliography includes those books consulted by the writ- er, including many references to Iowa birds of prey compiled by Dr. Paul Bartsch in his thesis, in manuscript, Literature of Iowa Birds (1899), marked by an asterisk, and the recent bibliography of Fig. 4. — The palisades of the Cedar near Mount Vernon (Norton). Fig. 5. — The deep valley of Mississippi river south of Lansing (Calvin). Fig. 6. — The flood plain of the Mississippi below McGregor (Calvin). GENERAL INFORMATION 27 Dr. T. C. Stephens, of Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa, marked by a dagger. All references used in the preparation of nar- ratives and distributional maps have been verified by the examina- tion of the original publications. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND ACKNOWLEDG- MENTS. While the literature relating to raptorial birds is widely scattered, a few outstanding sources of information deserve special mention. Dr. B. H. Warren, in his Birds of Pennsylvania, 1888, deals particu- larly with the birds of prey from an economic standpoint, giving re- ports on the contents of many stomachs. The Life Histories of North American Birds, 1892, by Captain Charles Bendire, relates the habits of raptorial birds in a manner both interesting and thor- ough. Dr. A. K. Fisher's Hawks and Owls of the United States, 1893, is widely known in ornithological literature, and is a classic in its field. Dr. R. M. Anderson's Birds of Iowa, 1907, is the most notable contribution to Iowa ornithology and has proved invalu- able as a reference. Certain publications, dealing with the birds of nearby states, have yielded valuable data. Among these are History of the Birds of Kansas, 1891, by N. S. Goss; Birds of Minnesota, 1892, by Dr. P. L. Hatch ; A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri, 1907, Otto Wldmann ; A Preliminary Reviezv of the Birds of Nebraska, 1909, by L. Bruner, R. H. Wolcott and M. H. Swenk, and Dr. C. B. Cory's Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, 1912. Dr. Paul Bartsch, at present Curator of Marine Invertebrates in the Na- tional Museum, Washington, D. C., in 1899 compiled The Literature of Iowa Birds, which is as yet in manuscript form. He has gen- erously permitted me to use this material, and as much of it as re- lates to birds of prey is included in the bibliography herewith pub- lished. Dr. T. C. Stephens, of Morningside College, Sioux City, no less generously placed in my hands bibliographic data relative to the more recent literature of Iowa Raptores. Dr. T. C. Stephens, Professor H. F. Wickham, Professor J. H. Scott, Dr. F. A. Stromsten, Mr. Dayton Stoner, Professor Charles Reuben Keyes, of Mt. Vernon, and Mrs. B. H. Bailey have generous- ly given their time and by their criticisms and suggestions have as- sisted in arranging the subject matter of this book. Dr. C. B. Cory, of the Field Museum, Chicago ; Mr. Robert Ridgway, and Mr. H. C. Oberholser, of Washington, D. C., have determined the identifica- Fig-. 7. — A forested glacial ridge (paha) in Bremer county (Norton). Fig-. 8. — A planted grove along the prairie highway in Sac county (Macbride). SOURCES OF INFORMATION 33 tion of certain specimens. Mr. N. K. Bigelow very kindly assisted by the examination of many stomachs. I wish furthermore to ac- knowledge my indebtedness to other friends, notably my assistant of former years, Mr. T. B. Kurata, now of the Museum of Toronto; Miss Clementina Spencer, of Coe College; Mr. George T. McNair, and Mr. Ben H. Peterson, of Cedar Rapids. The acknowledgments due to those who have contributed in various ways to the further- ance of this work are many. I mention again Dr. G. F. Kay and Professor C. C. Nutting, to both of whom I am peculiarly indebted for suggestion and direction. I wish also to acknowledge the kind- ness of Mr. C. B. Soutter, of Cedar Rapids, who made possible a trip through Northern Iowa in 1902, when much valuable informa- Fig. 10. — Dead Man's lake, a swamp at the south foot of Pilot Knob, Han- cock county (Macbride). tion was secured, and of Col. William G. Dows, of Cedar Rapids, who likewise has put within easy reach many facilities for the prose- cution of this work. To Professor H. R. Dill, of the State University of Iowa, I am especially obligated for a very considerable portion of the data on stomach contents. Through his kindness all the stomachs of rap- 34 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA torial birds brought to his laboratory for a period of years were submitted for examination. I wish also to thank Professor J. H. Paarman and Miss S. G. F. Sheldon, of the Davenport Academy of Sciences; Professor H. W. Norris, of Grinnell; Mr. E. R. Harlan, of the State Historical Museum, Des Moines; Mr. F. C. Pellett, of Atlantic; Mr. Charles Buettner, of Burlington; Mr. G. H. Berry and Mr. John Cobden, of Cedar Rapids ; Mr. George Binge, of Mt. Vernon, and Mr. A. F. Porter and Mr. Christ Hoeg, of Decorah. BERT HEALD BAILEY. STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, 1917. TOPOGRAPHY AND DISTRIBUTION. Few states present a more uniforrh surface with less topographic relief than Iowa. Planed by successive ice sheets everywhere ex- cept in a limited area in' the extreme northeast, and drained by the tributaries of two great rivers, there is to be found nothing more bold than a divide whose gentle slopes to the east and west separate the drainage waters of the state, from the Okoboji lakes to near the middle of its Missourian boundary. These eastward trending streams in places have cut through limestone many feet in thick- ness, making picturesque palisades beautified by the abundant cedars which grow in their crannies or crown their heights. Cottonwood, elm, basswood, oak, and many other trees stand in the flood plains or forest the higher ground almost continuously along their courses. West of the divide there are fewer trees skirting the streams, which flow through the rich alluvial soil. The western and espe- cially the northwestern part of the state, while comparatively tree- less, has at present groves that break the monotony of the prairies and that have changed not a little of the fauna inhabiting this sec- tion of Iowa. The rugged driftless area north and east of Turkey river is illy adapted to prairie-loving forms, while sections in the north and west afford no attraction to those that require the forest. The wooded Missouri bluffs and bottoms on the west make condi- tions similar to those found to the east along the Mississippi, and though not so abundant, all the birds of prey common to the Missis- sippi valley are to be found along the Missouri. The rivers are highways for bird migration, and since so large a part of the rap- torial fauna is comprised of species that prefer the woods these are the parts of Iowa where the birds of prey are most abundant. The accompanying chart divides the Hawks and Owls into three groups Pig. 11. — The forest filled valley of Little Sioux river at Sioux Rapids, Buena Vista county (Macbride). Fig. 12. — The loess hills bounding- the Missouri valley north of Turin, Monona county. The flood plain is visible in the distance (Shimek). TOPOGRAPHY AND DIS1RIBUTION 37 according to their estimated preference for such regions as Iowa affords. It is intended to represent the character of the country, whether timbered or treeless, where the listed species are most fre- quently found. * Nesting. t Permanent resident. j Occasional in winter. § Usual every winter. A Accidental. Total of Iowa species 33. Total of subspecies 7. Total of species and subspecies 40. A — Area of greatest abundance Northward, coming south in winter. B — Area of greatest abundance Eastward, extending west- ward. C — Area of greatest abundance Southward, coming north in summer. D — Area of greatest abundance Westward, extending east- ward. E — Area of greatest abundance Iowa and contiguous states, or as abundant here as elsewhere. Of these forty, twenty-three have been found nesting in Iowa, six rarely, eight unusually, and nine commonly. Eleven are rare, being accidental stragglers in the state, or if formerly more com- mon, now occasional only. 38 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Species that prefer Timbered Regions Species frequenting both Timber and Prairie Species that prefer Prairie Regions A A Great Gray Owl § Goshawk A Hawk Owl § Rough-legged Hawk § Snowy Owl B * Red Shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk t Bald Eagle f Barred Owl f Great Homed Owl J* Sparrow Hawk .§* Red-tailed Hawk C A Swallow-tailed Kite Mississippi Kite } Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Mexican Goshawk Barn Owl t* Turkey Vulture * Harlan's Hawk D Western Goshawk Harris's Hawk t Western Horned Owl * Krider's Hawk Western Redtail * Swainson's Hawk A Ferruginous Rough- leg A Richardson's Pig- eon Hawk Golden Eagle A Prairie Falcon * Burrowing Owl E * Duck Hawk A Iowa Broad-winged Hawk * Long-eared Owl Saw- whet Owl f* Screech Owl * Pigeon Hawk * Fish Hawk * Marsh Hawk * Short-eared Owl Total, 21 Total, 13 Total, 6 The 1910 Check List of the American Ornithologists' Union re- cords 100 species and subspecies of Vultures, Hawks and Owls sup- posed to occur north of the Mexican boundary in North America and Greenland. Together with a newly-described subspecies (Buteo platypterus iowensis) there are 101 all told. Of these three are Vultures, 54 are Hawks and 44 are Owls. In Iowa there have been found of raptorial birds one species of Vulture, 27 species and sub- species of Hawks, and 12 species and subspecies of Owls; a total of 40. Of the entire raptorial fauna of the United States we have therefore about 40 per cent represented, divided as follows : one- third of the Vultures, about one-half of the Hawks, and more than one-fourth of the Owls. Considering the central location of Iowa, and its relatively small relief, it is evident that the Raptores are well TOPOGRAPHY AND DISTRIBUTION S9 represented. Two factors operate to bring the number of species and subspecies to its present total : First, the great changes of tem- perature, which in summer permit southern species to reach our borders, and in winter bring down the boreal species from the north, and second, the intergradations of eastern and western, or even southern forms, which, as in the Red-tailed Hawk, contribute besides the species (Buteo borealis borealis) three subspecies (kri- derii, calurus, and harlanii). With the exception of Winnebago and Worth counties, parts of Osceola, Dickinson, Emmet, Kossuth, Hancock, Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Mitchell, Howard, Winneshiek and Allamakee, which are ascribed to the transitional zone, Iowa lies entirely within the Upper Austral zone (4th Provisional Map of the Biological Survey, 1910). The mean temperature approximates 47.5 degrees and the difference in mean temperature between northern and southern Iowa is less than five degrees. The difference between extreme temperature in sum- mer and winter is great, not unusually showing a maximum of nearly -|-100 degrees in summer and a minimum of — 25 degrees in winter. FIG. 13. — Life zones as given by Merriam. (4th Provisional Map, Biological Survey, 1910.) Shaded area represents Transitional zone, white area represents Upper Austral zone. Since the identification of Hawks and Owls is rendered difficult by the usual shyness of these birds, the confusing common names given them (such as "Chicken Hawk," which may mean one of three 40 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA or four different species) and the fact that a dead specimen comes to hand only occasionally, it seems desirable to furnish a simple key that will aid in identifying the more common species of Hawks and Owls in our state. HOW TO MEASURE A BIRD. The total length of a bird (L.) is best obtained by laying the spec- imen on its back upon a table, gently stretching its head backward. Measure from the tip of the bill to the tip of the longest tail feather. The stretch of a bird is the distance from tip to tip of the wing feathers. The tarsus extends from the base or insertion of the toes up to the next joint, which is really the heel of the bird. (The knee of the bird is usually hidden in the feathers.) The tail is measured from the insertion of the middle feather to the tip of the longest feather. The wing is measured only from its "bend" to the tip of the long- est primary. The "bend" is the one coming nearest to the neck when the wing is folded. The primaries are the strong flying quills which spring from the end joint, or hand, of the bird's wing. The length of the bill is taken with dividers along the "oilmen," so as to give the distance in a straight line from the feathers at the forehead to the tip of the upper mandible. KEY TO IOWA BIRDS OF PREY. A. Size large. Head naked or covered with short downy feathers ; bill rather long and hooked ; feet without sharp claws. Vul- tures. One Iowa species. See No. 1, page 46. B. Size very large, large, medium or small. Head well feathered; bill short and strongly hooked ; eyes set in sides of head and not facing forward. Plumage rather firm. Eagles, Hawks, Kites and Falcons. See Key on page 41. C. Size large, medium or small. He^ad well feathered; bill short and strongly hooked; eyes facing forward, each surrounded by a radiating circle of feathers. Plumage more or less soft and fluffy. Owls. See Key on page 43. This key gives one or more characteristics of each species. The Description of each species will furnish further points for identifica- KEY TO IOWA EAGLES AND HAWKS 41 tion. The fact that our Iowa Hawks and Owls are of such various sizes not only among the different species, but among individuals of the same species adds to the difficulty of identifying these birds sole- ly on the basis of size. Female birds average larger than the males. B. A KEY TO IOWA EAGLES, HAWKS, KITES AND FALCONS. 1. Size very large. Length 33 or more inches. Tarsus not feathered to base of toes. Adult birds with white head, neck and tail. Young birds without white. Bald Eagle. No. 17. Tarsus feathered to base of toes. Back of head and neck golden brown. Tail in adult is gray at base; in young is white at base. Golden Eagle. No. 16. 2. .Size large. Length 17.5 to 25 inches. Length 19 to 25 inches. Tarsus not feathered to toes. Bright red tail. Circles high in air. Below white with buff on sides of neck and dusky or brownish streaks on belly. (Young birds have no red anywhere, tail is grayish with many dusky bars.) Red-tailed Hawk. No. 9. Very light above, below white or with a few scattered dusky spots on belly. Krider's Hawk. No. 9-a. Tail like common Red- tailed Hawk but with evidence of more than one black bar. Body usually darker, tibia with barred flags. Throat often streaked with black. Western Red Tail. No. 9-b. Very dark though sometimes approaching the common Red Tail. Tail mottled with rusty white, gray and dusky, never brick red. Harlan's Hawk. No. 9-c. Blackish and white. Always near water. Feeds on fish. Osprey. No. 22. Length 22 to 24 inches. Much rufous in plumage above. Tarsus feathered to toes. Legs rugous barred with black. Ferruginous Rough Leg. No. 15. Length 21 to 25 inches. Adult: bluish slate with blackish pencilings. Top of head black. Below whitish with small 42 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OP IOWA wavy gray bars. Tail rather long with four dusky bands. Immature : Above dusky grayish with buff edging on feath- ers. Below whitish with blackish stripes. Seen late in fall, winter and early spring. Goshawk. No. 7. Length 20 to 23 inches. Tarsus feathered to base of toes. Under parts heavily marked, tending to form a band across belly. Basal part of tail white or buffy. Rough-legged Hawk. No. 14. Plumage more or less blackish all over. Primaries and tail barred. Dark phase of Rough-legged Hawk. No. 14. Length 17.50 to 22 inches. Conspicuous reddish shoulder patches. Banded tail. Red-shouldered Hawk. No. 10. 3. Size medium. Length 19.50 to 22 inches. Like a big swallow, tail deeply forked. Body and head white. Wings and tail blackish. Swallow-tailed Kite. No. 2. Length 19.50 to 22 inches. Slender, long-tailed Hawk with white patch on rump in any plumage. Nests on ground near marshes. Marsh Hawk. No. 4. Length 14 to 20 inches. Tail rounded at tip. Bluish gray above. Below whitish with many dusky or rufous bars on sides and breast. Immature : Dusky above with light spots and rusty edges on feathers. Below streaked with brown or dusky. Tail barred with dark bands. Cooper's Hawk. No. 6. Length 13 to 18 inches. Adult: Dusky brown above, below brownish or dull rusty with many or few transverse white spots. Dark tail with two to four lighter bands. Belly white barred with rufous. Immature : Whitish below with streaks of brown or dusky bands on tail narrow, five to seven. Broad-winged Hawk. No. 12. Length 16 to 19 inches. Adult: Upper parts slaty blue, pri- maries barred with ochraceous. Under parts cream buff with spots and bars of black save on breast. Immature: Upper parts dusky with yellowish or rusty edges to feath- ers, conspicuous black spot below eye. Duck Hawk. No. 19. 4. Size small, length under 16 inches. Length 13 to 15.50 inches. Tail square at tip. Blue gray or lead color, lighter on head and darker on wings and tail. KEY TO IOWA OWLS 48 Rufous spots on primaries. Immature : Back blackish mixed with rufous and white, below buff streaked with rufous and grayish brown, head black and white streaked. Mississippi Kite. Length 10 to 14 inches. Tail long and square at tip with sev- eral dusky bars. Wings rounded. Adult : Blue-gray above, darker on head. Below whitish with reddish or dusky bars mostly on breast and sides. Immature : Dusky above with light spots and rusty edges to feathers, below whitish with brown or dusky streaks. Sharp-shinned Hawk. No. 5. Length 10 to 13 inches. Bluish slate above, broken buffy collar on neck, under parts creamy to ochraceous with dark streaks except on throat. Pigeon Hawk. No. 20. Length 10 inches. Above bright rufous and black. Much slate blue on wings and head. Sparrow Hawk. No. 21. C. A KEY TO IOWA OWLS. Owls with Conspicuous Ear Tufts. Largest size; length 20 inches or more. Great Horned Owls. 1. Darker; Great Horned Owl. Common. No. 30. 2. Lighter; Western Horned Owl. Rare. No. 30-B. Medium size; length more than 13 and less than 16 inches. Long-eared Owl. Dark colored; ear tufts very long. Com- mon. No. 24. Smallest size; length less than 12 inches. Screech Owl. Either red or grey. Very common. No. 29. Owls with Inconspicuous or No Ear Tufts. Largest size; length 19 inches or more. Length 26 to 28 inches. Great Grey Owl. Eyes yellow. Very rare. No. 27. Length 22 to 26 inches. Snowy Owl. Feet white. Winter. No. 31. Length 19 to 22 inches. Barred Owl. Eyes dark. Common. No. 26. 44 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Medium size; length more than 12 and less than 19 inches. Length 16 to 19 inches. Barn Owl. Buffy speckled; eyes brownish. Not common. No. 23. Length 14.75 to 17 inches. Hawk Owl. Grayish brown and white. Barred beneath with gray. Tail long. Very rare. No. 32. Length 14 to 16 inches. Short-eared Owl. Yellowish buff and dusky. Common, especially Fall. No. 25. Smallest size; length less than 12 inches. Length 9 to 1 1 inches. Burrowing Owl. Buffy brown ; legs long. Lives in burrows. Rare. No. 33. Length 7.50 to 8.50 inches. Saw-whet Owl. Brownish, marked with white. Rare. No. 28. NOTES. In treating of the birds of prey of any limited territory, such for instance as the state of Iowa, the fact must not be overlooked that species of Raptorial birds that come only occasionally within our borders are nevertheless of considerable value to our state because they destroy injurious mammals, insects, etc., outside our boundaries, thus preventing these pests from extending their range and invad- ing our state. The interrelation of states in this regard should not be overlooked and laws should be made not with relation to state boundaries but with' the broader consideration of the distribution of fauna. In the letter of transmittal written by Dr. C. Hart Merriam in Dr. Fisher's Hawks and Owls of the United States the following statement is made which must be astonishing to the majority of people who have hitherto looked upon the birds of prey as one and all worthy of destruction: "Only six of the 73 species and subspecies of Hawks and Owls of the United States are injurious. Of these, three are so extremely rare they need hardly be considered, and another (the Fish Hawk) is only indirectly injurious, leaving but two (the Sharp-shinned Hawk and Cooper's Hawk) that really need be taken into account as enemies of agriculture. Omitting the six species that feed largely on poultry and game, 2,212 stomachs were examined, of which 56 per cent contained mice and other small mammals, 27 contained in- sects, and only 3^2 per cent poultry or game birds." GENERAL NOTES 45 At least two species of Raptorial birds listed by J. A. Allen in his catalog of the birds of Iowa published in Appendix B of White's Geology of Iowa, Vol. II, 1870, have not appeared, nor have they been authenticated by collected specimens. Among these are Rich- ardson's Owl and Kirtland's Owl. The former of these will prob- ably be found at length by careful search. In making the distributional maps I have tried to avoid supposi- tional records or quotations that leave it uncertain that the species was actually observed by a competent person or that a specimen was collected. Where breeding records are given it is on a similar basis. Occasionally the judgment of the writer is stressed, but the effort has always been to give the facts as nearly as they might be ascer- tained. If the Sparrow Hawk or Screech Owl were not only encouraged but propagated they would do more in the way of ridding us of in- sect pests and other vermin, such as mice, etc., than all the cats in the vicinity. DESCRIPTIONS OF IOWA BIRDS OF PREY Order RAPTORES. Birds of Prey. Suborder Sarcorhamphi. American Vultures. Family CATHARTIDAE. American Vultures. Genus Cathartes Illiger. 1. CATHARTES AURA SEPTENTRIONALIS. Wied. 325, Turkey Vulture. Turkey Buzzard. Buzzard. Field Characters. — A large blackish bird with bare reddish head and neck; usually seen sailing with motionless wings, or gathered about some carcass on the ground. Pig-. 14. — The Turkey Vulture. Description. — Adult: Both sexes with feathers everywhere glossy blackish, more or less brown edged, especially on the upper surface of wings. Head and neck naked, skin red ; bill red at base. Immature: With brownish "fur-like" feathers on head. Nest- lings covered with white down. THE TUEKEY VULTURE 4Y Measurements. — Length 30 inches, wing 22 inches, tail 11 inches. Range. — From southern British Columbia, northern Minnesota and southern New York, southward to southern South America. Likely to be found anywhere in Iowa ; nesting in suitable localities. Much less common than formerly. The Turkey Buzzard, as it is popularly called, seems formerly to have been more abundant in Iowa than it now is. At a time when the larger wild animals were here in numbers these birds feasted upon the carcasses of Bison, Deer and Elk which succumbed to dis- ease, accident or the prowess of the hunter, and which were left un- buried upon the prairies. J. A. Allen has recorded that hundreds of Turkey Vultures congregated at Panora in 1868, and mentions a locality called "Buzzards Roost" in the southern part of Guthrie county, so named because of the numbers of these birds which re- sorted there. The keenness of vision of the Turkey Vulture is unexcelled, and their custom of eating any decaying animal matter, not excepting the dead of their own kind, has caused them to be protected as scaven- gers in many states. They are remarkable in flight, soaring at varying levels in the at- mosphere without apparent movement of the wings ; skimming the tops of hills and dipping into the valleys between, no evident effort being required to gain the hilltop after inspecting the valley. Though buzzards are not to be considered common, they are to be noticed frequently in some parts of the state and occasionally are found nesting. They are reported to reach Iowa early in April, and by October most of them have moved southward. Captain Charles Bendire records that Professor Lynds Jones found a nest of the Turkey Buzzard at Grinnell in a hollow stump which had been used by them for many years. Mr. G. H. Berry took an egg of this species from a large hollow stump near Fair- fax, Linn county, May 20, 1886. A set of two eggs was taken from a hollow tree at Spirit Lake by Mr. J. W. Preston. Dr. R. M. Anderson records that E. B. Webster found a pair nesting near Upper Iowa river, and Morton E. Peck says they nested frequently in Black Hawk county. Mr. George Burge, Professor Charles Keyes and the writer have found their eggs and young at the Palisades on Cedar river near Mount Vernon, where they occupied the small caves and ledges in the more or less vertical limestone cliffs. 48 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA A set of two eggs was last taken at this place May 6, 1903, since which time I have no record of their nesting in that vicinity. The eggs, one or two in number, are creamy white with reddish brown and lilac markings, mostly at the larger end, and measure 2.75 by 1.90 inches. On one occasion a mother Vulture, in order to drive us from her downy nestling, disgorged partially digested carrion with such pro- tective effect that we were glad to seek purer air at a distance from the nest. Not infrequently these birds are mistaken for Bald Eagles through the erroneous belief that the head of the Bald Eagle is bare. Few animals are attacked and killed by the Turkey Vultures, but any carcass will be greedily devoured; mice, fishes and skunks be- ing perhaps the most unusual articles of their recorded diet. Fig. 15. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Turkey Vulture. In this as in succeeding distributional maps the asterisk denotes nesting records and the maltese cross denotes the occurrence of the bird. Cathartes Illiger, Prodromus, 1811, 236. Type, by subs, desig., Vultur aura Linnaeus (Vigors 1825). Cathartes septentrionalis Wied, Riese Nord-America, I, 1839, 162. (Near New Harmony, Indiana.) * Vultur (Cathartes 111.) aura. Say, Thomas, Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., pp. 370, 377, 1819-20. (Engineers Cantonment, Pottawattamie county.) THE TURKEY VULTURE 49 *Cathartes aura. Allen, J. A., Notes on the Birds Observed in Western Iowa in the months of July, August and September: Memoir of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 1, pp. 492-500. *Cathartes aura. Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Cathartes aura. Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur and Mahaska counties.) *Oathartes aura. Beal, P. E. L., Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley from Observations Collated by W. W. Cooke: Forest and Stream, Vol. 19, No. 16, p. 306, 1882. (Ames.) *Cathartes aura. Jones, Lynds, Ibid. (Grinnell.) *Cathartes aura. Berry, H. N.; Vincent, E. F.; Preston, J. W.; Keyes, C. R.; Bond, H. L.; and Clute, W. M., in W. W. Cooke's Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, p. 111. (Iowa City.) *Cathartes aura. George, F., Ibid. (Williamstown.) *Cathartes aura. Jones, Lynds, and Parker, H. W., Ibid., p. 112. (Grin- nell.) *Cathartes aura. Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 72, 1888. *Cathartes aura. Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. *Cathartes aura. Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Pre- liminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 126, 1888. Cathartes aura. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois: Nat. Hist. Surv. 111., State Labr. Nat. Hist., Vol. 1, p. 490, 1889. Cathartes aura. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 243, 1891. *Cathartes aura. Sheldon, Frank W., Brief Notes: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 9, p. 129, 1891. * Cathartes aura. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornith- ologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Cathartes aura. Hatch, Dr. P. L., The Birds of Minnesota: Geol. and Nat. Hist. Surv. Minn., p. 175, 1892. Cathartes aura. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, Vol. 1, pp. 161-165, 1892. *Cathartes aura. Osborn, Herbert, A Partial List of the Animals of Iowa Represented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Entomology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. *( Cathartes aura.) Preston, J. W., Notes on Bird Flight: The Ornitholo- gist and Oologist, Vol. 17, No. 3, p. 42, 1892. *( Cathartes aura.) Trostler, Isador S., A Tramp through Woods and Marshes in Eastern (Western) Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 14, No. 9, p. 211, 1892. In the Bibliography following each species the asterisk denotes the bibliography of thesis in manuscript, Literature of Iowa Birds (1899). The Dr. Paul Bartsch in h ,., dagger denotes the recent bibliography, unpublished, of Dr. T. C. Stephens of Morn ingside College, Sioux City. 50 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA *Cathartes aura. Jones, Lynds, Bird Migration at Grinnell: The Auk, Vol. 12, p. 236, 1895. *Cathartes aura. Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 7. *(Cathartes aura.) Henning, Carl Fritz, The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis) : The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 69, 1896. (Boone.) *(Cathartes aura.) Audubon, M. R., and Coues, E., Audubon and His Journals, Vol. 1, p. 483, 1897. (Pottawattamie county.) * (Cathartes aura.) Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 6, 1897. *( Cathartes aura.) Savage, W. G., Some Notes on the Birds and Weather of Van Buren County, Iowa, March, 1897: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 27, April, 1897. *Cathartes aura. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 1, 1897. *Cathartes aura. Bartsch, Paul, Summer Birds of the Oneota Valley (June, July, 1895): The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 54, Octo- ber, 1897. (Winneshiek and Allamakee counties.) Cathartes aura. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Cathartes aura. Woodruff, R. M., The Birds of the Chicago Area; The Nat. Hist. Survey of the Chicago Acad. Sci., Bull. No. VI, pp. 90-91, 1907. Cathartes aura. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa: Proc. Dav. Acad. Sci., Vol. XI, p. 241, 1907. Cathartes aura. Bruner, L.; Walcott, R. H.; Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 48, 1909. Cathartes aura septentrionalis. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wiscon- sin: Field Mus. of Nat. Hist., p. 449, 1909. Cathartes aura septentrionalis. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 152, 1910. Cathartes aura septentrionalis. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, pp. 286-287, 1914. Cathartes aura septentrionalis. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas: The Kan. University Sci. Bull., Vol. VII, No. 5, p. 146, 1913. t (Cathartes aura septentrionalis.) Townsend, Manley P., Turkey Vultures in Northwestern Iowa: Bird Lore, XVI, pp. 270-278, 1914. tOathartes aura septentrionalis. Gabrielson, Ira N., Some Marshalltown, Iowa, Notes: The Auk, XXXI, p. 255, 1914. THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE 51 Suborder Falcones. Vultures, Falcons, Hawks, Buzzards, Eagles, Kites, Harriers, etc. Family BUTEONIDAE. Hawks, Eagles. Kites, etc. Genus Elanoides Vieillot. 2. ELANOIDES FORFICATUS (Linn.). 327. Swallow-tailed Kite. Field Characters. — A long-winged, fork-tailed, black and white Hawk, resembling a big swallow. Unlike any other Iowa bird of prey. Possessed of remarkable powers of flight; feeding while on the wing. Description. — Head, neck and rump, white. Back, upper surface of wings and entire tail black. Below, white, including under sur- is. — The Swallow-tailed Kite. face of wings. Tail very deeply forked; outer tail feathers more than twice as long as middle ones. Immature birds have dark shaft pencilings on feathers of the head. 52 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Measurements. — Length 19.50 to 25.50 inches, wing 15.50 to 1775 inches, tail 12.50 to 14.50 inches. Range. — The greater part of North and South America, breeding in suitable localities from northern United States southward. At present rare in Iowa. Formerly bred locally in the state. This beautiful Kite is unique among the Iowa birds of prey in its noticeable swallow-like form, and the grace of its flight. According to Anderson it was formerly "A tolerably common summer resident throughout the state." His further remark that "it is of infrequent occurrence" is confirmed by observations within the last decade. It is rarely reported even by trained observers and its descrip- tion by a novice may easily be recognized. J. A. Allen in an account written in 1868 speaks of it as "com- mon, often seen in considerable numbers, and generally over or near the timber-skirting streams." He also mentions the nesting of this species near Denison, on Boyer river. Mr. M. E. Peck has noted it in Black Hawk and Benton counties where his father, Mr. George D. Peck, secured several sets of eggs previous to 1877. Mr. John Cobden, of Cedar Rapids, once witnessed a flight of Swallow-tailed Kites in that vicinity. The birds were moving in a rather compact body, circling in and out, and coming so close to the top of the hill where he was that "they might easily have been knocked down with long poles." On this occasion they seemed not at all shy, and, as it was autumn, they were moving in a southerly direction. This Kite not only feeds while on the wing but, like the swallow, drinks while skimming over the surface of the water. The nest is usually placed at some distance from the trunk, high among the smaller branches of tall trees. It is rather rudely con- structed of sticks and twigs with a soft lining of such material as may be obtainable. For this purpose the inner bark of cotton- wood trees is sometimes used. The eggs, two or three in number, are white, heavily marked, mostly at the larger end, with rich brown- ish spots. It would be interesting to know what have been the factors in re- ducing the numbers of this particular species in Iowa. Whether its native shyness during the breeding season, the thin- ning out of the timber, or the increase of fire-arms has been the most important cause is hard to determine. It can scarcely be at- THE SWALLOW- TAILED KITE 53 tributed to a diminution in either the variety or quantity of its usual food. Of six specimens reported upon by Dr. Fisher in "Hawks and Owls of the United States," all contained insects, two lizards, and one a tree frog. Three of these birds were from Nebraska and one from Minnesota. The scarcity of the species in recent years has made impossible the examination of many stomachs of these birds. The variety of insect food devoured by an immature male which was brought to the Coe College Museum, September 20, 1903, as listed below, places this bird beyond all question among the farmer's friends. Fig. 17. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Swallow-tailed Kite. Stomach contents of Swallow-tailed Kite, collected September 20, 1903, Cedar Rapids; sex male (immature) : 2 Scarabeus Beetles, 52 Hemiptera, 2 Bumble Bees, 5 Field Crickets, 2 Honey Bees, 44 Grasshoppers, 1 Wasp, 4 Ground Beetles, 1 Burying Beetle, 1 Large Water Beetle, 1 Mole Cricket, 1 Wheel Bug, 1 Cotton Bug, Also a mass of insect fragments. The last recorded observation of this bird in Iowa was made by Mr. J. H. Scott, of Iowa City, on Wapsipinicon river near Inde- pendence in August, 1912. 54 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Elanoides Vieillot, Nouv. Diet." d'Hlst. Nat. XXIV, 101, 1818. Type, by monotypy, Falco furcatus Linnaeaus=F. forficatus Linnsex i. *Falco (Milvus Bach.) furcatus. Say, Thomas, Majov S. H. Long's Ac- count of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, pp. 370, 377. (Pottawattamie county.) *Falco furcatus. Maximilian, Prince zu Wied, Reise in das Innere Nord Americas. In den Jahren 1832-34, Vol. 1, p. 340, Coblenz, 1839. *Elanoides forficatus. Maximilian, Prince of Wied, Travels in the Interior of North America, p. 134, London, 1843. *Nauclerus furcatus. Allen, J. A., Notes on the Birds Observed in West- ern Iowa in the months of July, August and September: Memoir of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 1, p. 500, 1868. (Guthrie county. ) *Nauclerus furcatus. Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geol- ogy of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, j. 424, 1870. *Nauclerus furcatus. Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur.) *Nauclerus forficatus (Linn.) Ridgw. Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Birds of North America, Land Birds, Vol. 3, p. 192, 1874. (Sioux City.) *Nauclerus forfioatus (Linn.) Ridgw. Coues, E., Birds of the North West. p. 332, 1877. (Cooper.) *Elanoides furcatus. Lester, W. A., Mississippi Valley Migration: Orni- thologist and Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 5, p. 33, 1883. (Grand View.) *Elanoides forflcatus. Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, 2d Edi- tion, p. 526, 1884. *Elanoides forficatus, Berry, H. N.; Vincent, E. F.; Preston, J. W.; Keyes, C. R.; Bond, H. L; and Clute, W. M., in W. W. Cooke's Report on the Bird Migration in the -Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, p. 112. (Iowa City.) *Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). Jones, L., and Parker, H. W., Ibid., p. 112. (Grinnell.) *Elanoides forficatus. Fidgway, Robert, A Manual of North American Birds, p. 224, 1887. Elanoides forficatus. Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, 3 Edition, p. 526, 1887. *Elanoides forficatus. Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, Mar., 1889. Elanoides forficatus. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 444, 1889. *Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Pro- ceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 126, 1888. *Elanoides forficatus. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE 55 Elanoides forficatus. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 247, 1891. *Elanoides forficatus. Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, 4th Edi- tion, p. 526, 1892. Elanoides forficatus. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 176, 1892. *Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Represented in the Collections of the Depart- ments of Zoology and Entomology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Elanoides forficatus. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North Ameri- can Birds, p. 168, 1892. Elanoides forficatus. Fisher, A. K., The Hawks and Owls of the United States: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, Bull. 3, p. 20, 1893. *Elanoides forficatus. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 2. *Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). Stone, Witmer, Birds of Eastern Pennsyl- vania and New York, p. 85, 1894. *Elanoides furcatus. Jones, Lynds, Bird Migration at Grinnel'l: The Auk, Vol. 12, p. 120, 1895. *Elanoides forficatus. Godly, A. P., Two Rare Birds in Marshall County, Iowa: Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 52, Jan., 1895. *Elanoides forficatus. Searles, W. W., Under Notes and News: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 90. (Lime Springs.) *Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). Ridgway, Robert, a Manual of North American Birds, 2d Edition, p. 224, 1896. *Elanoides forficatus. Bartsch, Paul, Birds Extinct in Iowa and Those Becoming So: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 3.. *Elanoides forficatus. Henning, Carl Fritz, Under Notes and News: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 85, 1896. (Boone county.) *Elanoides forficatus. Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 16. *Elanoides forficatus. Audubon, M. R., and Coues, E., Audubon and His Journals, Vol. 1, p. 481, 1897. (Mills county.) *Elanoides forficatus. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 6, 1897. (Cerro Gordo county.) *Elanoides forficatus. Henning, C. Fritz, The Swallow-tailed Kite: The Osprey, Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 77, 1897. (Boone.) Elanoides forficatus. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Elanoides forficatus. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 242, 1907. Elanoides forficatus. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 290, 1907. Elanoides forficatus. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 91, 1907. Elanoides forficatus. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, pp. 88-89, 1907. 56 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Elanoides forficatus. Cory, C. B», Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 461, 1909. Elanoides forficatus. Beebe, Mary B., and C. W., Our Search for a Wild- erness, p. 154, 1910. Elanoides forficatus. Bruner, L.; Wolcott, R. H.; Swenk, M. H., A Pre- liminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 50, 1909. Elanoides forficatus. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 146, 1913. Fig. 18.— The Mississippi Kite, young bird. Genus Ictinia Vieillot 3. ICTINIA MISSISSIPPIENSIS (Wilson). 329. . Mississippi Kite. Field Characters. — A rather small, slaty blue, or lead-colored Kite, with black tail. Immature birds have streaked heads, dark THE MISSISSIPPI KITE 57 backs and white-barred tails, and are heavily streaked with dusky below. An easy flying bird, migrating in flocks, sometimes at a great height. Description. — Adults : On both neck and head grayish above ; back slate colored ; tips of wings and entire tail black. Below gray- ish. Immature: Streaked on the head with black and white; back dusky with rufous edged feathers; tail with three or four incom- plete white bars. Below heavily streaked with blackish brown on a buffy background. Measurements. — Length 13 to 15.50 inches, wing 10.60 to 12.30 inches, tail 6 to 7 inches. Range. — Southern Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, southern Indiana and South Carolina, south to Texas and Florida; wintering in Florida, southern Texas, and beyond. Accidental in Colorado, South Da- kota, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. This Kite is by no means the equal in elegance and beauty of the Swallow-tailed Kite, but is said to share with it remarkable powers of flight. R. M. Anderson says : "I was for a long time constrained to place it in the hypothetical list for want of a definite authentic record of its capture in Iowa." Two specimens of the Mississippi Kite were secured in the fall of 1887 near Burlington. They were mounted by Mr. Chas. Buett- ner, of that city, and were examined by the writer in the museum of the Iowa Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant. This is its first recorded occurrence in the state. An immature female Mississippi Kite! collected near Omaha, Nebraska, and purchased for the Coe College Museum, is the first of this species recorded for Nebraska. (The Wilson Bulletin, September, 1915.) This Kite is said to be fully as gregarious as any of the other Kites and oftentimes may be seen in flocks of twenty or more circ- ling over a favorite hunting ground. It is also said to be not at all shy, and Col. N. S. Goss, in his History of the Birds of Kansas, relates that at one time he shot two of these birds from the same tree, the second one remaining in the tree undisturbed by the dis- charge of the gun which killed its mate. There is no record of its nesting in Iowa. The eggs are from one 58 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA to three, dull whitish or bluish white, measuring about 1.63 by 1.32 inches. Authors generally state that the food of this species is similar to that of the Swallow-tailed Kite, with which it is said to be seen not infrequently. Fig-. 19. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Mississippi Kite. Ictinia Vieillot, Analyse, 24, 1816. Type, by monotypy, Milvus cenchria Vieillot=Falco plumbeus Gmelin. Falco mississippienis Wilson, Amer. Orn., Ill, 80, pi. 25, fig. 1, 1811. (A few miles below Natchez, Mississippi.) Ictinia mississippiensis (Wils.) *Falco mississippiensis Wilson. Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Ac- jcount of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Cantonment, Pottawattamie county.) *Ictinia mississippiensis Gray. Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, His- tory of the Birds of North America, Land Birds, Vol. 3, p. 204, 1874. *Ictinia subcoerulea. Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, 2d Edition, p. 525, 1884. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). A. O. U. Check-List, p. 185, 1886. *Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Ridgway, Robert, A Manual to North American Birds, p. 225, 1887. *Ictinia subcoerulea. Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, 3d Edi- tion, p.. 525, 1887. THE MARSH HAWK 59 *Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Ridgway, Robert, Natural History Sur- vey of Illinois, Vol. 1, p. 448, 1889. Ictinia mississippiensis. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 250, 1891. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Bendire, Chas., Life History of the North American Birds, Vol. 1, p. 177, 1892. *Ictinia subcoerulea. Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, 4th Ed- ition, p. 525, 1892. *Ictinia mississippiensis. Fisher, A. K., The Hawks and Owls of the United States: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Orni- thology and Mammalogy, Bull. 3, p. 24, 1893. *Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Ridgway, Robert, in C. C. Nutting's Report of the Committee on State Fauna: Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science for 1892. Vol. 1, Part 3, p. 41, 1893. "lotinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Ridgway, Robert, Ibid., Reprint, p. 2. 'Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). A. O. U. Check-List, 2d Edtion, p. 127, 1895. *Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Ridgway, Robert, A Manual to North American Birds, 2d Edition, p. 225, 1895. *Ictinia mississippiensis. Bartsch, Paul, Birds Extinct in Iowa and Those Becoming So: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 3, 1896. *Ictinia mississippiensis. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 2, 1897. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Cata- logue of the Birds of Missouri: Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, p. 90, 1907. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa: Proc. Dav* Acad. Nat. Sci., Vol. XI, p. 243, 1907. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 50, 1909. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wis- consin, p. 454, 1909. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). A. 0. U. Check-List, p. 154, 1910. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 291, 1912. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 146, 1913. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wilson). Bailey, B. H., The Wilson Bulletin, No. 92, September, 1915. Genus Circus Lacepede. 4. CIRCUS HUDSONIUS (Linnaeus). 331. Marsh Hawk. Harrier. Blue Hawk. Field Characters, — A moderately large, slender, long-tailed hawk usually seen flying low over meadows or marshes, perching on fence 60 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OP IOWA Fig. 20.— The Marsh Hawk. posts or on the ground, the distinguishing mark in any plumage being a patch of white feathers above the base of the tail. Adult males are of a general ashy bluish color ; female and immature birds are dark colored with streaks of dusky and buff, the latter with much dull red beneath. Description. — A noticeable ruff of radiating feathers about the eyes much as in the owls. Adult male, above ashy or grayish ash; upper tail coverts conspicuously white ; tail barred with six to eight dusky THE MARSH HAWK 61 bands. Below, pearl grayish on forebreast. White elsewhere below with rufous markings. Adult female, above dusky with streaks on head and neck and red- dish edgings to feathers on upper surface of wings. A white patch at base of tail above as in the male. Tail heavily barred with buff and black. Below, yellowish buff with heavy darker streaks. Immature birds are darker above than the female, and with dull reddish or buffy rufous tinderparts. The white patch above the base of the tail is especially conspicuous in this plumage. The plumage is rather loose and soft, suggesting that of an owl. Measurements. — Length, 19 to 22 inches; wing, 13.75 to 15 inches; tail, 9 to 10 inches. Range. — North America in general; south to Panama and Cuba. Breeds throughout its North American range. (A. O. U. Checklist, 1910.) This slender-legged, long-tailed hawk is characteristically a bird of the open prairie and marsh land. I have never seen it in heavy tim- ber, though it sometimes frequents the margins of woods and scrubby, brush-covered hills. It is easy in flight, seeming to hunt successfully on quite windy days, but is not possessed of the strong, vigorous and direct flight of many other hawks. The migration northward is usually late in March and early in April, and southward in the crisp October and November days. Oc- casionally it is to be found in Iowa in mid-winter. The habit of beating back and forth over the hunting territory, whether prairie or marsh, stopping now and then in the tall grass and rushes, or alighting upon some knoll on the prairie, corresponds in many respects to the performance of well-trained hunting dogs. It is noteworthy that a great majority of the birds seen are in the red plumage, comparatively few "blue hawks" being observed. At Eagle lake, in Hancock county, several of these birds were seen in June, hunting the rush-grown marsh, and the remains of their feasts littered the tops of Muskrat houses, where partly devoured Mud Hens, Grebes, and occasionally Ducks were to be found. On September 2, 1914, while the writer was hunting with Mr. Henry Ward of Britt, a female Marsh Hawk arose from the thick rushes which were growing in the north end of Eagle lake. My com- panion killed the hawk and going to the spot from which it was first flushed, we found a male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), with the head 62 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA and neck eaten to the bone, and the eyes plucked out. On skinning the duck later, a single shot-hole was found in its back not far from the right hip joint. The carcass was fresh and there is little doubt that the duck was killed by the hawk, after being weakened by its wound. In the stomach of this Marsh Hawk, nothing but the flesh and feathers of the duck were found. Mr. Ward says that these hawks sometimes kill ducks that are not wounded. On one occasion a Marsh Hawk was seen to make repeated efforts to secure a robin from a flock perched in some willows that stood in the margin of the marsh, but without success. In early June, while photographing three young Marsh Hawks in a nest not far from Eagle lake, my attention was attracted by the continued harassing of the female Marsh Hawk by a male Red- winged Blackbird which followed every turn of the hawk as she dashed close by over my head. Again and again the hawk struck with her talons at the blackbird, which skillfully eluded them. Later the belligerent attitude of the Red-wing was better understood when, upon causing the young hawks to disgorge the contents of their distended crops, they were found to contain young blackbirds. Unlike the majority of our hawks, this species nests on the ground, either in marshy land, or on brush-covered hillsides adjacent thereto. The surrounding vegetation effectually conceals the nest, but the feeding of the brooding female by the male may sometimes reveal its location. It has been observed that the male secures food which he carries to the vicinity of the nest and drops from aloft while in flight, whereupon the female leaves the nest, seizing the prey before it reaches the ground. When sufficiently developed, the young are sometimes fed in a similar manner. It is the experience of the writer that the female is far more con- cerned with the protection of her young than is the male. She will come dashing through the air, swerving upward when within a few feet of one's head, returning again and again to repeat the perform- ance. The male in the meantime is usually well out of gunshot. The eggs are of a light bluish color, usually unspotted, commonly four to six in number, and measure about 1.85 by 1.43 inches. In Fisher's "Hawks and Owls of the United States," there are no records of the stomach contents of this species from birds taken in Iowa, but birds taken elsewhere show that the main articles of diet are reptiles, insects, frogs, birds both small and large, and mammals. THE MARSH HAWK 63 The preponderance of meadow mice found in the stomachs of 124 Marsh Hawks obtained in various parts of the United States, as re- corded by Dr. Fisher, speaks for the careful preservation of this bird of prey. Because they frequent the marshes where gunners pursue wild- fowl, they are in the greater danger, and are more often shot care- lessly as well as intentionally by hunters who little appreciate the economic value of these birds. R. M. Anderson records that Mr. C. F. Henning of Boone found three adult and eight young field mice in the viscera of a Marsh Hawk taken October 20, 1890. Fig. 21. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Marsh Hawk. 64 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE MARSH HAWK 65 Circus Lacepede, Tableaux Ois., 4, 1799, Type, by subs, desig., Falco aeru- ginosus Linnaeus (Lesson, 1828). Falco hudsonius Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, I, 128, 1766 (Hudson Bay). Circus hudsonius (Linnaeus). *Falco (Circus Bech.) uliginesus. Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Cantonment, Pottawattamie county.) *Circus hudsonius Linn. Baird, S. F., 9th Pacific R. R. Report. Part 2, Birds, p. 40, 1858. (Quasqueton.) *Circus hudsonius Linn. Baird, North American Birds of 1860, p. 40. (Quasqueton.) *Circus hudsonius Vieill. Allen, J. A., Notes on the Birds Observed in Western Iowa in the Months of July, August and September: Memoir of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 1, p. 500, 1868. (Deni- son.) *Circus hudsonius Viell. Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Circus hudsonius. Trippe, T. M., 'Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur and Mahaska counties.) *Circus hudsonius. Williams, H. S., Seasons and Birds of the Prairie: Forest and Stream, Vol. 22, No. 21, p. 403. (Charles City.) *Circus hudsonius. Preston, J. W., Hawk Notes: Ornithologist and Ool- ogist, Vol. 10, No. 3, p. 35, 1885. (Baxter.) Circus hudsonius. Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, pp. 74-75, 1888. *Circus hudsonius. Webster, E. B., Migration Report: The Hawkeye Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 44, 1888. (Cresco.) *Circus hudsonius (Linn.). Jones, L., and Parker, W. H., Ibid. (Grinnell.) *Circus hudsonius (Linn.). Preston, J. W., Ibid. (Newton.) Circus hudsonius. Cooke, W. W., Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, p. 113, 1888. *Circus hudsonius. Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds Found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. *Circus hudsonius (Linn.). Keyes, Charles RoHin, and Williams. H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the" Birds of Iowa: Pro- ceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 126, 1888. *Circus hudsonius. Crone, J. V., Summer Residents of Buena Vista Coun- ty, Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 7, No. 3, p. 46, 1890. *Circus hudsonius. Norris, J. P., A Series of Eggs of the Marsh Hawk: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 15, No. 5, p. 72, 1890. (Baxter.) *Circus hudsonius. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Orni- thologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. *Circus hudsonius. Sheldon, Frank W., In Camp at Twin Lakes: Ornithol- ogist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 10, p. 157, 1891. r. 66 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA "Circus hudsonius. Jones, Lynds; in Bendire's Life History of the North American Birds, Vol. 1, p. 186. 1892. (Grinnell.) *Circus hudsonius (Linn.). Preston, J. W., Ibid, p. 185. (Baxter.) Circus hudsonius. Bendire, Captain Charles, Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 183, 1892. *Circus hudsonius. Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Represented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Entomology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Circus hudsonius. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 178, 1892. Circus hudsonius. Fisher, Dr. A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 26, 1893. *Circus hudsonius. Anderson, Rudolph M., A Collecting Trip in Northern Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 11, No. 4, p. 142, 1894. (Lake Edwards, Han- cock County.) *Circus hudsonius. Jones, Lynds, Bird Migration at Grinnell, Iowa: The Auk, Vol. 12, p. 121, 1895. *Circus hudsonius. Jones, Lynds, Ibid, p. 236. * Circus hudsonius. Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 7. *Circus hudsonius. Anderson, R. M., A Hawk Diary: The Nidologist, Vol. 3, Nos. 10 and 11, p. 124, 1896. (Forest City.) *Circus hudsonius. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 6, 1897. *Circus hudsonius. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 2, 1897. *Circus hudsonius. Savage, W. G., Some Notes on the Birds and Weather in Van Buren County, Iowa, March, 1897: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 27, April, 1897. "•Circus hudsonius. Savage, David L., Birds of the Midland Region: The Midland Monthly, Vol. 8, p. 465, 1897. (Southern Iowa.) *Circus hudsonius. Wilson, B. H., One Small Piece of Ground: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 48, October, 1897. Circus hudsonius. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Circus hudsonius. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, 1907, pp. 90-91. Circus hudsonius. Woodruff, F. M., The Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 72, 1907. Circus hudsonius. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 244, 1907. Circus hudsonius. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 50, 1909. Circus hudsonius. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 455, 1909. Circus hudsonius. A. O. U. Checklist, 1910, p. 155. Circus hudsonius. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 292, 1912. Circus hudsonius. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 146, 1913. . &&. — ±ne snarp-shinned Hawk, adult. THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 69 Genus Accipiter Brisson. 5. ACCIPITER VELOX (Wilson). 332. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Little Chicken Hawk. Slate-colored Hawk. Field Characters. — A small, -slender-legged, brownish or slate colored hawk, with rounded wings and long square-tipped tail. Usually seen along the hedges and the brushy margins of timber lands pursuing small birds. Description. — Above, bluish or brownish gray, darker on head. Tail square, crossed by four noticeable dark, bands ; flight feathers barred with dusky. Below, heavily barred with reddish buff on a white background. Immature : With buff-margined brownish feathers above, and white below with streaks of dusky or reddish brown. Measurements. — Length, 10 to 14 inches; wing, 6 to 8.50 inches; tail, 6 to 8 inches. Range. — North America generally. Breeds nearly everywhere in its United States range. Winters from Iowa southward. These destructive little hawks are common to all parts of the state, especially during the spring and fall migrations, although only a com- paratively small number remain here to nest. They are most fre- quently seen in brush-land along the border of timber, and the wooded banks of streams and lakes. They do not soar like the larger ''buzzard hawks," but usually fly with short quick wing-strokes at no great height. They are exceedingly alert and depend largely on their slyness and dash in capturing prey. The call is described as similar to that of Cooper's Hawk though not so loud, and is represented by KAK-KAK-KAK-KAK-KAK- KAK sharply accented and high pitched. This note is uttered when the nest is approached, and they are said to defend their homes with considerable vigor. While the writer was waiting in a boat on Cedar lake for incoming ducks, a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds arose from the rushes when instantly a Sharp-shinned Hawk darted into their midst, his claws striking right and left. A shot stopped him before he succeeded in capturing any of the flock. Not infrequently they have been known to venture into the thickly settled parts of cities in pursuit of English Sparrows. 70 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Although March and April and September and October are the months of their greatest abundance, I have taken one in the eastern part of the state as late as December 20. It has been found nesting near Grinnell by Mr. Lynds Jones^ who notes that they build in cavities of the Linden tree, or when nesting in the open, choose "limbless trees, most frequently oaks, to nest in, from 15 to 20 feet up." In the Iowa Ornithologist (October, 1897), Mr. Paul Bartsch, writing on the "Birds of the Oneota Valley," says : "Common : breeds in the crevices in the cliffs. The young are very noisy and usually betray the nesting site by their notes. I examined one of these abodes several hundred feet above the river on the cliff adjacent to the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad near its junction with the Oneota, a little southwest of New Albin (Iowa Bluff), and found numerous wings of the smaller birds, such as warblers, Black Birds, Meadow Larks, Song Sparrows, Flickers, Robins, etc., etc., as well as some bones belonging to small rodents, spermophiles perhaps, scattered about the crevice. The young were large enough to vacate the residence when I made my appearance (July 5, 1895), and I had to be content to gaze upon the amount of mischief wrought by a fam- ily of these falcons. The Sharp-shin surely has few redeeming fea- tures, when we consider the amount of havoc he causes among our small birds." The nest is unusually large for so small a hawk, and is "made of dry sticks more or less compactly placed together, with or without a sparse lining of soft inner bark or green leaves." The eggs are ordinarily deposited by the second or third week in May, are heavily spotted and blotched with varying shades of brown, and measure about 1.46x1.16 inches. The Sharp-shinned Hawks feed largely on small birds, many of which are seed eaters, and devour quantities of weed-seed and there- fore are of great economic value. Where young chickens are to be had the hawks are said to continue their depredations as long as the supply of poultry holds out. The Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Goshawk, are re- sponsible for the greater share of the blame which has been placed upon hawks in general for the destruction of poultry. Of the three species named, only the first two are found in Iowa during the warm- er part of the year, and the Sharp-shinned Hawk fortunately is not present in sufficient numbers to constitute the serious menace which his naturally destructive instincts would otherwise permit him to be. N. S. Goss says : "I admire their courage and dash, but cannot find it in my heart to say one good word in their favor." BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 71 Fig-. 24. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Accipiter Brisson, Orn., I, 310, 1760. Type, by tautonymy, [Accipiter] accipiter Brisson=Falco nisus Linnaeus. Falco velox Wilson, Amer. Orn., V. 116, pi. 45, fig. 1, 1812. (Banks of Schuyl- kill River, near Philadelphia, Pa.) Accipiter velox (Wilson). *Falco velox Wilson. Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engi- neers Cantonment, Pottawattamie County.) *Accipiter fuscus Bonap. Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *A(ccipiter) fuscus Bonap. Parker, H. W., Iowa Birds: The American Naturalist, Vol. 5, p. 169, 1871. (Clinton County.) *Accipiter fuscus. Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur and Mahaska Counties.) * Accipiter velox Wilson. Cooke, W. W., Report on the Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Divi- sion of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, p. 114. Accipiter velox. Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, pp. 75-77, 1888. *Accipiter velox (Wilson). Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Pro- ceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 126, 1888. Accipiter velox. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 457, 1889. 72 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA *Accipiter velox. Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds Found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. *Accipiter velox. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornith- ologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Accipiter velox. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, 1891, p. 254. *Accipiter velox. Sheldon, Frank W., In Camp at Twin Lakes: Ornitholo- gist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 10, p. 157, 1891. *Accipiter velox, Balliet, Letson, Buteo Borealis and Other Hawks: The Wisconsin Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 110, 1891. (Des Moines.) *Accipiter velox (Wilson). Jones, Lynds, in Bendire's Life History of the North American Birds, Vol. 1, p. 189, 1892. (Grinnell.) Accipiter velox. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 180, 1892. *Accipiter velox (Wilson). Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Represented in the Collections of the Department of Zoology and Entomology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Accipiter velox. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 32, 1893. *Accipter velox. Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 7. *Accipiter velox. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 2, 1897. *Accipiter velox. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 6, 1897. *Accipiter velox. Bartsch, Paul, Summer Birds of the Oneota Valley (June, July, 1895) : The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 35, 54, October, 1897. (Winneshiek and Allamakee Counties, to Eagle Point, Dubuque.) * Accipiter velox. Savage, D. L., Discussion: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 62, October, 1897. (Henry County.) Accipiter velox. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Accipiter velox. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, 1907, pp. 91-92. Accipiter velox. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 244, 1907. Accipiter velox. Woodruff, F. M., The Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 92, 1907. Accipiter velox. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 50, 1909. Accipiter velox. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 456, 1909. Accipiter velox. A. O. U. Checklist, 1910, p. 155. Accipiter velox. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern U. S., p. 293, 1912. Accipiter velox. Pellett, Frank C., Friends and Foes of the Fruit Grower: Sixth Annual Report of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture, pp. 113-127, 1912. Accipiter velox. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. STOMACH CONTENTS OF THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 73 f 1 j-* -*- -t- -t- p$ PS J^Q^OOOOOO^ II II 11 ^ • 03 II *QQ CO «* 1C CO t^ 00 O5 O i— ( : : : : : S|TTTT1 cc 1 — 1— be ; ; j'S ; c3 : c§ « : : : *S : rH • il »^H • • • ^^ 1 HI ! UlJ M § 22 3? d i-S S»i .£-*.£ w CD i-0,!-0 2^32^3"^ :'^a)'c3 o^ofl^ ^S^S rt DnOife ;02(M02 : .^ :' ^ JO id »0 10 1 Q 1 3 ^ i QQQ ;3 IS i iiiiiii a 02 : :^d :^QJ OJ : : i IS ;^^ i i 6 I-H C^ CO -^ UO O l> QO Pig. 28. — The Goshawk or Big Blue Hen Hawk. Fig. 29. — The Goshawk, another view. THE GOSHAWK *3 Genus Astur Lacepede. 7. ASTUR ATRICAPILL US ATRICAPILL US (Wilson). 334. . : Goshawk. Big Blue Hen Hawk. Big Blue Chicken Hawk. Field Characters. — A large slate colored hawk with darker crown ; grayish below ; tail long and wings rounded. Found here in late fall, winter and early spring. Description. — Above, slate colored, with blackish crown and a white line above and behind the eye. Tail with five indistinct dark bars. Below, everywhere closely barred with slate-gray and white; the feathers showing black shaft-lines. Immature birds are dusky above, the feathers burly edged; tail with definite dark bars. Below whitish with blackish streaks. Measurements. — Length, 21 to 24 inches; wing, 12 to 14 inches; tail, 10 to 12 inches. Range. — North America. Breeds chiefly north of the United States. In- winter is found as far south as Missouri, Oklahoma and Mexico. The Goshawk is found in Iowa during the colder part of the year, reaching us from the north usually about the middle of November. It is closely related to the Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks but is much larger and more powerful than either, and is bolder and more daring in pursuit of its prey. In Iowa it is apparenty less a bird of the open than either of the above-named species, being found usually in or near timber, though it comes to the farmyard fearlessly in quest of doves and chickens. R. M. Anderson speaks of it as occurring "from November to April," and says further that it "has been recorded from most sections of the State." While it doubtless occurs every year, it frequently appears to be so uncommon that it is easily overlooked. In December, 1906, a bird taken near Cedar Rapids was brought to the writer by Mr. G. H. Berry. In midwinter, later, two tail feathers of the Goshawk were brought in for identification. They had been taken from a trap set near a dove-cote which was being visited by one of these birds. During about ten years past not a single specimen of this species had been received by the State University, but the recent fall and winter (1916-17) witnessed a remarkable flight of Goshawks in this 84 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA and nearby states. In all, no less than thirty of these birds have been reported to the writer between early October and the middle of January. The observations made by Dr. T. C. Stephens and W. J. Himmel of Sioux City give evidence that these birds first appeared in that region as early as October 5, and nine birds in all are reported by them from that date to early December. Mr. Harold Thiesen of Hamburg had received two Goshawks be- fore Thanksgiving day, and Mr. T. R. Cowles of the same place had taken one specimen and had seen four others. Near Cedar Rapids some five specimens in all were secured, while the remainder of those noted were either shot by students of the University of Iowa or were sent to the laboratory of Professor Homer R. Dill of that institu- tion. Comparatively few of the stomachs of these birds were exam- ined, but of those in which the contents were reported only one had traces of mammal hair. The observations and testimony of those who shot a number of these hawks was almost unanimous as to the destruction of poultry by the Goshawks they killed. One was shot while attempting to capture a turkey ; several were shot while eating chickens, and others while attempting to secure them. Four speci- mens (one A. a. striatulus) were received from Mr. Joseph Shell- horn near Cedar Rapids, who said that he had killed them all during one week and that he had lost no less than twenty-five or thirty of his fowls by their raids. The dates on which the birds were recorded indicate that the flight first reached Iowa from the north and west early in October, and that by the middle of the month specimens were being taken in Iowa City. At Hamburg the first record seems to be October 25. The last bird examined was taken at Iowa City the 15th of December. Among the specimens secured the sexes are about equally divided. The evidence in hand shows that this species is the most destruc- tive of Iowa hawks, and that it would be a matter of serious concern if these birds should become as common every winter as they have been during the past season. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE GOSHAWK 85 / i i i^\ wfctvetMx Cxwp*<9T\ tiW?X\ dV^erve. "Sa^jme Fig. 30. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Goshawk. Astur Lacepede, Tableaux Ois., 4, 1799. Type, by subs, desig., Falco palum- barius Linnaeus (Vigors, 1824). Falco atricapillus Wilson, Amer. Orn., VI,, 80, pi. 52, fig. 3, 1812. (Near Philadelphia, Pa.) Astur atricapillus atricapillus (Wilson). *Astur atricapillus (Wils.) Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Astur atricapillus. Baird, S. F., Brewer, T. M., Ridgway, R., A History of North American Birds, Land Birds, Vol. Ill, p. 242, 1875. *Accipiter atricapillus. Lindley, J. W., Mississippi Valley Migration: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 5, p. 33, 1883. (Mitchell.) *Accipiter atricapillus. Reyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Pro- ceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 127, 1888. Accipiter atricapillus. Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 80, 1888. Accipiter atricapillus (Wils.). Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 459, 1889. Accipiter atricapillus (Wils.). Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 258, 1891. * Accipiter atricapillus (Wilson). Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Represented in the Collections of the Depart- ments of Zoology and Entomology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Accipiter atricapillus (Wilson). Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, pp. 196-199, 1892. 86 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OP IOWA Accipiter atricapillus (Wils.). Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 183, 1892. * Accipiter atricapillus. Preston, J. W., Notes on Bird Flight: Ornitholo- gist and Oologist, Vol. 17, No. 3, p. 41, 1892. Accipiter atricapillus. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the United States, pp. 43-46, 1893. *Accipiter atricapillus. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Han- cock Counties, Iowa, p. 6\ 1897. *(Astur atricapillus). Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 20, April, 1897. Accipiter atricapillus. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Accipiter atricapillus (Wils.). Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 93, 1907. Accipiter atricapillus (Wils.). Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. of Science of St. Louis, 1907, pp. 93-94. Accipiter atricapillus (Wilson). Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. Astur atricapillus (Wils.). Cory, C. B.s Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 458, 1909. Astur atricapillus (Wilson). A. O. U. Checklist, 1910, p. 156. Astur atricapillus atricapillus (Wils.). Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 294, 1912. Astur atricapillus atricapillus (Wils.). Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. STOMACH CONTENTS OF THE GOSHAWK 87 rfi >> >> >J >> >> >: % OH aa acxo. s s s s s s H W H W W W LANEOUS : f. : : \ J H i ; ; ; ; M § MAMMALS : : : : -*•= : I UN i : : : DS : : : :*O : |-|' Hi I LLJS : CO i CQ S i i 0) : 1 i ! «S : : *O : : : o : : : : INN coocdcocbS S H •>•»•»;••'•< Q C^(N 1 CO^CCT^ J3 (M(M 1 > o o o o o O : O ooooo^; ;5z; JALITY :>!,::::: : sJ : : : : : : rt : : : : : : S : : : : : • O • T3 T5 • : >>O >» « 5 >> >> >•• O h3 o.gu||ooo gig a s|g| ^3^00^^^ ^O^Wffi^^^ M H 03 pS p2 ^2 ^' • ^2 • rS o3c^c5^)Q^Qc5 S S S^le Si3 £ o o »,3iS ®»3J53 fatmfa^Sfa^fe 6 i— I W CO TJH iO CO l> CO 88 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OP IOWA 7A. ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS STRIATULUS (Ridgway). 334a. Western Goshawk. Field Characters. — Scarcely distinguishable from the Goshawk ex- cept at very close range. Description. — Adults dark lead color or blackish on the head and back. Whitish below with dark slate colored bars which are heavier and darker than in the Goshawk. Immature with brownish black backs. Beneath heavily striped with dark slate, and with dusky spots on the thighs. Measurements. — As in the Goshawk. Range. — Northern part of the Pacific coast. South in winter to California, and casually eastward to Iowa and Illinois. Fig. 31. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Western Goshawk. The western form of the Goshawk, first recognized by Mr. Ridg- way, has not been hitherto reported from Iowa, although Dr. C. B. Cory mentions a specimen taken by Mr. Chas. K. Worthen near Warsaw, Illinois. Two specimens of the Western Goshawk have been secured in Iowa during the winter of 1916-17; one by Mr. Wes- ley Kubichek at Iowa City, and the other was shot by Mr. Joseph Shellhorn near Cedar Rapids. Both birds are adult. THE WESTERN GOSHAWK 89 Astur Lacepede, Tableaux Ois., 4, 1799. Type by subs, desig., Falco palum- barius Linnaeus (Vigors, 1824).. Astur atricapillus var. striatulus Ridgway, in Hist. N. A. Birds, III, 240, 1874. (Fort Steilacoom, Puget Sound, Washington.) Astur atricapillus striatulus Ridgway. Accipiter atricapillus striatulus Ridgway. Ridgway, R., Manual of North Am. Birds, p. 228, 1900. Accipiter atricapillus striatulus Ridgway. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. Astur atricapillus striatulus Ridgway. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and -Wisconsin, p. 460, 1909. Astur atricapillus striatulus Ridgway. A. O. U. Checklist, 1910, p. 156. Fig. 32. — Harris's Hawk (Photo by Professor H. R. Dill). HARRIS'S HAWK Genus Parabuteo Ridgway 91 8. PARABUTEO UNICINCTUS HARRIS I (Audubon). 335. Harris's Hawk. Field Characters. — A large dark colored hawk with red thighs and shoulders. Tail white at base and broadly white tipped. Description. — Above, dusky brownish or reddish brown with ruf- ous shoulders ; tail black, with white at base and tip. Below, sooty brown, the thighs and linings of wings chestnut. Measurements. — Length, 18 to 22 inches ; wing, 13 to 14.50 inches; tail, 10 to 11 inches. Range. — Extreme southern United States. Accidental in Iowa, there being but one record of its occurrence in the state. The single Iowa record of this bird of the far southwest is noted by R. M. Anderson in "The Birds of Iowa," as follows : "Its admis- sion to the Iowa list is based upon a single specimen captured in Van Buren County, near Hillsboro. Walter G. Savage writes concerning it, February 25, 1904, 'Nine years ago a trapper caught one in a steel Fig. 33. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Harris's Hawk. trap and brought it to me. This is the only one that I can positively identify in our locality. My father took this Hawk and now has a fine painting of it true to nature. It is identical with your descrip- tion and also with Coues'. It is surely a Harris Hawk :' " 92 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA A. K. Fisher says, "The food of this hawk consists largely of offal, the smaller reptiles and mammals, and occasionally birds. Mr. C. C. Nutting states that a specimen obtained in Costa Rica was shot while in the act of carrying off a chicken." (Proc. U. S. Nat'l Mus., Vol. 5, p. 404, 1882.) Parabuteo Ridgway, in Hist. N. A. Birds, III, 250, 1874. Type, by orig. desig., Falco harrisi Audubon^Buteo harrisi Audubon. Buteo harrisi Audubon, Birds Amer. (folio), IV, pi. 392, 1837. (Between Bayou Sara and Natchez, Mississippi.) Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi (Audubon). Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi (Audubon). Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., pp. 47-48, 1893. Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi (Audubon). Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life His- tories of North American Birds, pp. 202-204, 1893. Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi (Audubon). Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 246, 1907. Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi (Audubon). A. O. U. Checklist, 1910, p. 157. Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi (Audubon). Chapman, F. M., Birds of East- ern North America, p. 295, 1912. THE RED-TAILED HAWK Fig-. 34. — The Red-tailed Hawk. Fig. 35. — The Red-tailed Hawk, another view. Genus Buteo Lacepede. Subgenus Butso 9. BUTEO BOREALIS BOREALIS (Gmelin). 337. Red-tailed Hawk. Eastern Red-tail. Big Chicken-Hawk. Hen-Hawk. Field Characters. — A hawk of large size, dark above, whitish be- low. In adult birds the tail rusty red above, lighter below. The red of the tail showing from beneath where the bird soars toward the sun. Cry, a high-pitched penetrating keeeee keeeeee. Immature birds as large as adults, but with several dark bands on the tail and no red anywhere. Description. — Above blackish with irregular markings of whitish, tawny and rusty. Below, white or buffy white. Throat clear white or with a few dark streaks. Upper breast at sides dusty. Lower breast and belly marked more or less with dark streaks and spots. 94 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Tail rufous with one distinct black bar near the white tip. Feathers of the legs whitish with few if any markings. Immature : Marked above much like the adult. Below with no red anywhere, but a belt of dusky markings across the lower part of the breast. Tail grayish, crossed by six to ten dark bands. Measurements. — Length, 19 to 25 inches; wing, 13.50 to 17.75 inches; tail, 8.50 to 10.50 inches. Range. — Eastern North America from Wisconsin, Iowa and east- ern Texas eastward. The size and relative abundance of this large hawk make it easily the most conspicuous of the diurnal birds of prey within the state. It is not an uncommon sight to those who live in rural districts to see this "big chicken-hawk," as it is commonly called, perched on some dead tree in the pasture, or flapping slowly across the road from field to field. At mid-day it may be seen with wings and tail fully spread circling high in the air, its tail showing brick-red in the trans- mitted light as it sails toward the sun, uttering a shrill keeeee keeeee. While this species may resort to. rather densely timbered tracts at times, the majority of Red- tails seem to enjoy the margins of the for- ests and pastures which have here and there a dead cottonwood, from which perch a sharp lookout may be kept for the humble prey. Sometimes this hawk may be seen on the ground awkwardly ma- neuvering to capture insects, and evidently successful in his efforts. It is never more graceful than when, far aloft, with seemingly mo- tionless wings, it sweeps in wide circles, drifting with the breeze. The Red-tail, together with other buzzard hawks, lacks the dash of the true falcons, and it is no infrequent sight to see the Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) pursuing and harassing one of these large hawks. While the Red-tailed Hawk is far more abundant in the spring, summer and autumn than in the winter months, nevertheless this bird is with us even in the most inclement weather. The migratory movements of this species are most easily observed during the late fall when the adults, together with the young, may be seen in widely scattered flocks moving gradually southward as they hunt. They are also to be seen late in March in northern Iowa wheeling and flapping northward on a breeze from the south, some- times a dozen being in sight at once, at other times pairs or singles passing at intervals of a few minutes. THE RED-TAILED HAWK 95 The Red-tail usually builds during the early part of March, or re- pairs a nest suitably located. The structure is bulky, made of sticks and twigs of varying size ; and has a lining of softer material — corn husks, leaves and shredded bark being used ; or the strippings from corn-stalks, as has been noted by Professor Keyes. The same nest will be used again and again by a pair of Hawks, often with very little repair. Oak and cottonwood trees either in timbered uplands or in river bottoms, may be chosen, and the tree selected for nest building is often at or near the edge of more densely wooded land. These birds seem to count of more importance the size of the tree and the height at which the nest may be placed, than they do the matter of conceal- ment by surrounding timber. According to F. L. Burns, the period of incubation is twenty-eight days, and both sexes incubate the eggs, which number from two to four in a clutch. They range from a dirty white or bluish white ground color unspotted, to quite heavily marked eggs with rich red- dish brown spots having deeper shell tints of lilac, the heavier mark- ings being placed usually toward the larger end of the egg. While it is true that the food of Red-tailed Hawks taken in states contiguous to Iowa may be essentially similar to that of birds se- cured within the state, it is, however, desirable to know more about the food of those actually within our borders. Of the 562 stomachs of this hawk reported upon by Dr. A. K. Fisher in "Hawks and Owls of the United States,"- only a single stomach of all those examined came from an Iowa specimen. This lone representative from the "Hawkeye state" was collected at Keo- kuk, December 22, 1889, and was credited with having devoured "mice." Doctor Fisher says, "It has been demonstrated by careful stomach examination that poultry and game birds do not constitute more than ten per cent of the food of this hawk, and that all the other beneficial animals preyed upon, including snakes, will not increase this propor- tion to fifteen per cent. Thus the balance in favor of the hawk is at least 85 per cent, made up largely of injurious rodents — a fact that every thoughtful farmer should remember." There is no denying that this hawk does kill poultry, but it is made clear by careful study of the food throughout the year that there is no reason for the indiscriminate slaughter of every individual of this species. 96 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Those hawks which visit the poultry yard too frequently may be shot if necessary, but it is doubtful even then, in view of the fact that chicken is only a part of the bird's diet, whether the farmer is gainer thereby. We are not inclined to exterminate the male population in knickerbockers because of an uncontrolled appetite for apples, grapes or melons at certain seasons of the year. Mr. Frank Pellett of Atlantic had under observation a pair of Red-tailed Hawks that had selected a nesting site near a farmyard. He "shadowed" this family of Red-tails from March to June, 1910, and found that "apparently the pocket gopher was brought in more often than any other single item of food." He says, "If this family of hawks is a fair example, I think it safe to estimate the number of pocket gophers caught by a family of Red-tailed Hawks during a summer at one hundred." "Aside from pocket gophers the food con- sisted of prairie grey squirrels, striped ground squirels, rats and field mice." "During the entire time that the birds were under observa- tion, they were only observed to have two small chickens about the size of a quail." "As an example of the bill of fare, they were seen to have three pocket gophers, a prairie grey squirrel and two field mice in one day." Some observers believe that young and therefore less skillful birds are more likely to attack poultry because of the ease with which such prey may be secured. B. H. Warren records 173 stomachs examined of which 128 con- tained principally field mice and other small quadrupeds. Fourteen had fed on chrckens, and three on snakes. He says, "I have repeat- edly found three or four mice in the viscera of one bird." And he- reports that as many as seven were found in a single specimen. N. S. Goss says, "In habits it is rather sluggish, feeding chiefly upon rabbits, mice and moles, which it occasionally swoops down upon from the air, but generally from a perch, where it patiently watches for its prey. It now and then drops upon a duck, Bob White, or stray fowl from the yard, but it is not quick enough to catch the smaller birds, and never gives chase after a bird on the wing. It has not the courage or dash to venture within the dooryard, unless in a secluded place. "I know the farmer looks upon them as an enemy, but after a care- ful study of their habits, and an examination of many of their stom- achs, I have reached the conclusion that they are far more beneficial than injurious, in fact, one of his best friends." "They also delight to sail in the air, . . . and during the insect season, while thus sail- PLUMAGE OF THE RED-TAILED HAWK 97 ing, often fill their craws with grasshoppers, that during the after part of the day also enjoy a sail in the air." Other writers have noted that the Red-tailed Hawk sometimes feeds upon crows, especially the weak or sickly birds in localities where crows roost in numbers. On one occasion while hunting on the farm of Hon. James Wil- son near Traer, Iowa, the writer approached a Red-tail which was apparently being "mobbed" by a score or more of crows. When the writer was almost within gunshot, the hawk started to fly, carrying a dark object which it dropped when shot at, and which proved to be a crow. The hawk escaped, but the crow, though not a shot had struck it, was so pierced both in the skull and thorax by the talons of the hawk that it soon died. During the nesting season of the Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax n. naevius) at Eagle lake, in Hancock county, while concealed in the shelter of some oaks where a colony of about two hundred pairs of these herons was located, the writer noticed on sev- eral occasions the commotion caused by the circling of either adult or young Red-tailed Hawks above the trees where nests containing young herons were numerous. The prolonged and startling Whaa ! ! ! Whaa ! ! ! uttered by every adult heron which sighted a ha\vk indi- cated that a dreaded marauder was near. The crows, however, men- aced this heronry much more seriously, since they were ever ready to steal eggs whenever the nests were left unguarded. VARIATION AND CHANGE OF PLUMAGE IN THE RED-TAILED HAWK. It is interesting to note the range of variation among individuals of borealis and its subspecies. When hard and fast lines are laid down, there is always a specimen to be found which presents one or more characteristics warranting a place in at least two of the varieties. Wliile the typical B. borealis is to be found more abundantly east of the Mississippi, it occurs as a rather uncommon resident in eastern Iowa. An adult specimen of this species secured at Sioux City Au- gust 2, 1884 (No. 17490) 'is in the collection of the State University of Iowa. This bird was moulting at the time it was killed and both the partly grown rich chestnut-red tail feathers, as well as the rusty old ones have but a single well-defined subterminal black bar. The tibial flags are lightly washed with buff, but are unmarked. The lower tail coverts are white. As for the variety "calurus," while typical specimens of a dark brown or chocolate brown color are not common anywhere in the 7 98 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA state, individuals with practically no clear white, but with rusty wash- ing on the under parts and with rufous barring on the tibial flags are to be found; and a specimen of calurus taken in Johnson county, though of much lighter shade, has a more characteristically barred tail than a very dark specimen of calurus from California. Specimens are at hand which at a glance present the characteristics of the eastern variety, but careful examination of the tail feathers (especially near the shafts of the lateral ones) will reveal traces of dark bars in addition to the subterminal one. Few specimens, how- ever, which suggest at first sight the western variety, are without evi- dent traces of more than the subterminal bar. Iowa seems to be a "melting pot" for the species and its varieties. In the spring of 1915 a female bird in immature plumage was re- ceived from Allamakee county. This specimen is interesting when considered in conjunction with a hawk of the same species killed by the writer in July, 1902, at Clear lake, which was changing from im- mature to adult plumage. In this specimen most of the tail feathers are of the barred immature type, while some are of the red adult coloration with black subterminal band. One adult red feather is grown to only half its full length. It would seem that the Red-tailed Hawk does not pass into the adult plumage until the summer follow- ing the year in which the bird is hatched. Albino Red-tailed Hawks are occasionally secured. Typical Eastern Red-tailed Hawks do not appear to be common in eastern Iowa. Few specimens with white unmarked tibial flags and under tail coverts have been found. Intergradation with the western form is common, and birds are not easily placed under any restricted description. The varieties of this species range from Alaska to the islands beyond Florida and from New Foundland to eastern Mexico. Iowa is so located that these varieties, with the exception of the Alaskan form, come within its borders. There are in the Coe Col- lege Museum skins of the Eastern Red-tail and of its three varieties (viz., krideri, calurus, and harlani) all collected in Linn county. DISTRIBUTION OF THE RED-TAILED HAWK Fig. 36 — Map showing- the distribution jn Iowa of the Red-tailed Hawk. This map represents the distribution as recorded in the literature noted in the appended bibliography. It also includes the observations of the writer and of those with whom he has communicated. That this represents accu- rately the eastern variety and its state distribution may well be doubted, since many do not carefully distinguish the varieties. 100 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA ^ s j-i ;| I w H s I •a II 1& §§ .. . O : O M :« 2 ° o : £ C ^ I IS i| ? 1 S %-. c 6 I £=•: 'S'S'g ^ OUOO Sc ^^ 'S ^ U 00 0 0 If -II «.«? CQ 0 i— * (M TO Tt* >O CC t^ CC O 1-1 0* "-C o r— GO o o STOMACH CONTENTS OF THE RED-TAILED HAWK iOl a>w^a s s s hop : 0) bfi V ^-± : ; g ^ g«3 g bb ft : § ! : CQ : WJ w 5J GJJ • : 03 ,£ ££ : O : :^ y-> ': fa : 1NI1 LI ! I'O fto3 :^ £"5 )S MO I -HP^ i| 5 I ;o : T-H fO I" * T-H T-H Q COOCD O O OO > > > O O O o o S ^/^ Q ^ \ ^3 :-2 o^ 00 2'> | S £ § l||§ I 1 >» 02 O T-H CN CO ^ »O O *M Ol (M (M (M i*i C | •>£>'£ "i? 02 | 51 j M i i J P M— *^^ 5n " "*^ O H a £ ^J'o ^ ^ 02 a | ai QQ a- i ^ OQ , -(j -*e . a 1 £ > > "S o o c O • £ |z; Jz ' & C ' 0 ^J ^ Q 0 C <1 :' : c a I >, > Q 6 '• u >» • > ) J a C | C oJ | G§ o3 o3 p § 666 § c3 03 o- ' J y § c3 OS 1 | c O O C t—H HH 1^ O O 0 C p 00 C 1 6 g i :^- Tf (N -t CO Tt< ^ co t^ oo o: g ;rH CO »C STOMACH CONTENTS OF THE RED-TAILED HAWK 103 i 1 CO t sg 600 W £ MISCELLANEOUS i i bfl bfi cc COOSr-H 2 grasshoppers 1 I § *H : o> : 1 || ! 1 N- i ^H O MAMMALS 2 field mice Small mammal 1 shrew (Blarina sp.) .. 2 rodents 0) 1 CO Small rodent 1 small mammal 1 rodent ( gopher?).... PJnhhit. 1 « I § . O^- ^^ CO § pq i *o : t-> o> ^ IP g a e U il § 2 J3 o u o * ffl 1 Q i££ r p 0 1 — 1 i ! J Tf JJJ co^ *S -S ' ^ ^^^^ ^ ;££ So oc Q O OOOO Q^ LOCALITY 666 J| £££ 3tf Anthon a & 0 i-H : : : : : : : : : : O : i « • ; o ; >l ^ >l i §J> .t3 rg o."S : ja£ o 700 i .|o 1 S-^II II X m m : : • : : : QJ | j HI 1-3 w : ,-H ^^ ^_i M c3 fn QJ o3 03 c3r>j Q ^ »— H Cj C2 G 6 fc •^ >O CO b- 00 O5 O »-H CM CO rfl »O CO 1>- OO tototo tOtotOcOcO CO cOcOcOCO COCO 104 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Falco borealis (Gmel.), Syst. Nat., p. 266 (1789) (Original Description). *Falco borealis (Gmel.). Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Cantonment, Pottawattamie County.) Falco borealis (Gmel.), Nuttall, Thos., Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada, p. 102, 1832. Falco borealis, Wilson, Alexander, and Bonaparte, Chas. Lucian, American Ornithology or the Natural History of the Birds of the U. S., p. 82, 1831. *Falco borealis, Allen, J. A., Notes on the Birds Observed in Western Iowa in the months of July, August and September: Memoir of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 1, p. 497, 1868. Falco borealis, Samuels, E. A., Ornithology and Oology of New England, pp. 35-36, 1868. Falco borealis, Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B., p. 424, 1870. *Falco borealis, Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Pro- ceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur and Mahaska Counties.) Falco borealis, Jordan, D. S., and Van Vleck, B. H., A Popular Key to Birds, Reptiles, Batrachians and Fishes of Northeastern United States, East of the Mississippi River, p. 28, 1874. 'Falco borealis, Coues, E., Birds of the Northwest, pp. 352, 354, 1874. Falco borealis, Batty, Jos. H.: Forest and Stream IV, p. 374, 1875. Falco borealis, Baird, S. F., Brewer, T. M., and Ridgway, R., A History of North American Birds, p. 282, 1875. Falco borealis, Henshaw, W. H., Explorations West of the 100th Meridian, Wheeler, Vol. V, p. 424, 1875. Falco borealis: Forest and Stream, Vol. VI, p. 3, 1876. Buteo borealis (Gm.) Vieill. Vennor, H. G., Our Birds of Prey or the Eagles, Hawks and Owls of Canada, pp. 45, 51, 1876. Buteo borealis. Coues, E., Birds of the Northwest, p. 354, 1877. Buteo borealis. Krider, Jno., Forty Years' Notes of a Field Ornithologist, p. 6, 1879. *Buteo borealis. Jones, Lynds, Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley from Observations Collated by W. W. Cooke: Forest and Stream, Vol. 19, No. 16, p. 306, 1882. (Grinnell.) 'Buteo borealis. Beal, F. E. L., Ibid. (Ames.) *Buteo borealis. Coues, E., New England Bird Life, p. 121, 1883. Buteo borealis. Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, p. 544, 1884. Buteo borealis. Rawson, Calvin: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. VIII, p. 17, 1883. *Buteo borealis. Preston, J. W., Hawk Notes: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 10, No. 3, p. 35, 1885. (Baxter.) *Buteo borealis. Jay, James C., Under Correspondence: The Oologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 27, 1886. (Des Moines.) BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE RED-TAILED HAWK 105 *Buteo borealis. Norris, J. Parker, A Series of Eggs of the Red-tailed Hawk: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 11, No. 5, p. 68, 1886. (Baxter and Iowa City.) *Buteo borealis. Preston, J. W., The Number of Eggs Laid by the Red- tailed Hawk: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 11, No. 7, p. 102, 1886. (Baxter.) *Buteo borealis. Jay, James C., The Great Horned Owl Eggs: The Hoosier Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 112, 1886. (Des Moines.) Buteo borealis. Lloyd: Auk, Vol. IV, p. 188, 1887. Buteo borealis. Warren, Dr. B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 86, 1888. *Buteo borealis. Jay, James C., Under Oology: The Hoosier Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 59, 1888. (Des Moines.) Buteo borealis. Cooke, W., Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, pp. 26, 27, 33, 111, 114, 115, 1888. *Buteo borealis. Webster, E. B., Under Migration Notes: The Hoosier Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 63, 1888. (Cresco.) *Buteo borealis. Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Pre- liminary Annotated Catalog of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 127, 1888. *Buteo borealis. Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds Found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. Buteo borealis. Ridgway, R., Birds of Illinois, p. 465, 1889. Buteo borealis. Cory, C. B., Birds of the West Indies, p. 197, 1889. * White, H. G., Geographical Variation of Eggs: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 15, No. 1, p. 2, 1890. *Buteo borealis. Kelsey, Carl, The Effect of Winter on the Arrival and Nesting of Birds in Grinnell, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 1, p. 11, 1891. Buteo borealis. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 259, 1891. *Buteo borealis. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithol- ogist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. *Buteo borealis. Sheldon, Frank W., In Camp at Twin Lakes: Ornitholo- gist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 10, p. 157, 1891. *Buteo borealis. Balliet, Letson, Buteo borealis and Other Hawks: The Wisconsin Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 109, 1891. (Polk County and Des Moines.) *Buteo borealis. Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Represented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Entomology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Buteo borealis. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 185, 1892. Buteo borealis. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, pp. 206-212, 1892. *Buteo borealis. T. E. S., Iowa Notes: The Oologist, Vol. 11, No. 8, p. 199, 1892. (Council Bluffs.) *Buteo borealis. Fisher, A. K., The Hawks and Owls o! the U.rt?:l States: 106 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology and Mam- malogy, Bull. 3, p. 61, 1893. *Buteo borealis. Keyes, Charles Reuben, Notes and News: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 24, April, 1893. (Blairstown.) Buteo borealis. Keeler, Chas. A., Evolution of the Colors of North Ameri- can Land Birds, pp. 150, 206, 269, 1893. *Buteo borealis. Savage, David L., Notes on the Birds of Henry County, Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 10, No. 12, p. 325, 1893. *Buteo borealis. Jones, Lynds, Bird Migration at Grinnell, Iowa: The Auk, Vol. 12, p. 236, 1895. *Buteo borealis. Anderson, R. M., Owl Notes: The Nidologist, Vol. 2, No. 6, p. 80, February, 1895. *Buteo borealis. Irons, Ernest, Our Association: Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 53, April, 1895. *Buteo borealis. Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 8. *Buteo borealis. Henning, Carl Fritz. The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis): The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 66, 71, 1896. (Boone.) *Buteo borealis. Savage, Walter G., Under The Rambler Noticed: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 75, 1896. *Buteo borealis. Anderson, R. M., A Hawk Diary: The Nidologist, Vol. 3, Nos. 10, 11, pp. 124-125, 1896. (Forest City.) *Buteo borealis. Crone, John V., Under Notes and News: The Iowa Orni- thologist and Oologist, Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 86, 1896. (Winnebago.) tButeo borealis. Hegner, Robert W.: Oologist, p. 60.' June, 1897. (Ac- count of the Red-tailed Hawk.) *Buteo borealis, Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. *Buteo borealis. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 3, 1897. *Buteo borealis. Hortinger, Clarence, The Red-tailed Hawk in Hardin County, Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 14, No. 2, p. 28, 1897. *Buteo borealis. Savage, W. G., Some Notes on the Birds and Weather in Van Buren County, Iowa, March, 1897: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 26, 27, April, 1897. *Buteo borealis. Anderson, R. M., Nesting Habit of Krider's Hawk: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 3, p. 32, July, 1897. (Hancock county.) *Buteo borealis. Bartsch, Paul, Summer Birds of the Oneota Valley (June, July, 1895): The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 55, October, 1897. (Winneshiek and Allamakee Counties.) Buteo borealis. Knight, O. W., A List of the Birds of Maine, p. 60, 1897. *Buteo borealis. Savage, W. G., Contents of an Owl's Nest: The Osprey, Vol. 1, No. 10, p. 136, 1897. (Hillsboro.) *Buteo borealis. Savage, David L., Birds of the Midland Region: The Midland Monthly, Vol. 7, p. 492. (Southern Iowa.) BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE RED-TAILED HAWK 107 *Buteo borealis. Henning, C. P., Notes and News : The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 13, April, 1898. (Boone.) Buteo borealis. Evans, A. H., Birds, p. 166, 1899. Buteo borealis. Cory, G. B., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 173, 1899. Buteo borealis. Ridgway, R., Manual of North American Birds, p. 232, 1900. Buteo borealis. Hornaday, W. T., The American Natural History, p. 229, 1904. Buteo borealis. Woodruff, F. M., The Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 94, 1905. Buteo borealis. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. tButeo borealis. Hegner, Robert W., The Home Life of the Red-tailed Hawk: Bird Lore, VIII, pp. 151-157, 1906. Buteo borealis. Wilson, B. H., Birds of Scott County, Iowa: The Wilson Bulletin, March, 1906, p. 3. Buteo borealis. Widmann. Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, 1907, pp. 94-95. Buteo borealis. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 247, 1907. Buteo borealis. Macoun, Jno., and Macoun, Jas., Catalogue of Canadian Birds, p. 251, 1909. Buteo borealis. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. Buteo borealis. A. O. U. Check List, 1910, p. 157. Buteo borealis. Barrows, W. B., Michigan Bird Life, p. 270, 1912. Buteo borealis. Pellett, F. C.: Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Sci- ence, Vol. XIX, p. 199, 1912. fButeo borealis. Pellett, Frank C., Food Habits of the Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper Hawk and Sparrow Hawk: Proc. la. Acad. Sci., XIX, pp. 199- 201, 1912. tButeo borealis. Pellett, Frank C., Friends and Foes of the Fruit Grower: Sixth Annual Report Missouri State Board of Agriculture, pp. 113- 122, 1912. (Illus.) Buteo borealis. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. Buteo borealis. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 295, 1914. Euteo borealis. Burns, F. L., The Wilson Bulletin, Vol. XXVII, p. 283, March, -1915. 108 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Fig. 37.— Krider's Hawk. 9A. BUTEO BOREALIS KRIDERI Hoopes. 337a Krider's Hawk. Krider's Red-tail. Field Characters. — Similar to the Eastern Red-tail, but lighter both above and below. A very light colored hawk. Description. — Above showing much white on the back, the head still lighter, the white often predominating. Below, white with an indefinite belt of darker spots across lower breast. Tail pale red in adults, and in the immature with several blackish bars. Measurements. — Within the range of those given for the Red- tailed Hawk. KRIDER'S HAWK 109 Range. — From North Dakota and Minnesota south to Missouri, wintering southward. Accidental in Alaska. The Krider's Hawk is but a light form of the Red-tailed Hawk. The type specimen of this species was taken in Winnebago county, Iowa, September, 1872, and while not to be considered common, it is now and again reported, and specimens are occasionally collected 117 the state. It has been found nesting in several counties, and its breeding habits and food are in no way distinctive. Mr. Jasper Brown noted several mice in a nest containing two eggs, near Middle Amana, Iowa county, March 24, 1898. A specimen of Krider's Hawk taken in Eagle, Alaska, was pre- sented to the Coe College Museum (No. 336) by Rev. Dr. C. F. En- sign, who for some years was a missionary at that station. Hitherto it had not been found north of North Dakota. The report of stomach contents of this form will be found listed with that of the Red-tailed Hawk, the variety being indicated. Fig. 38. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Krider's Hawk. Buteo Lacepede, Tableaux Ois., 4, 1799. Type, by tautonymy, Falco buteo Linnaeus. Faleo borealis Gmelin, Syst. Nat., I, i, 266, 1788. (Carolina.) Buteo borealis var. kriderii Hoopes, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1873, 238, pi. 5. (Winnebago County, Iowa.) Buteo borealis krideri Hoopes. 110 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA *Buteo borealis kriderii Hoopes. Ridgway, Robert, A Manual to North. American Birds, p. 232, 1887. *Buteo borealis kriderii Hoopes. Cooke, W. W., Report on the Bird Mi- gration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-1885: U. S. Department of Ag- riculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull 2, p. 115, 1888. *Buteo borealis kriderii Hoopes. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kan- sas, p. 261, 1891. 'Buteo borealis kriderii. Balliet, Letson, Buteo borealis and Other Hawks: The Wisconsin Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 109, 1891. (Des Moines.) *Buteo borealis kriderii Hoopes. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life History of the Birds of North America, Vol. 1, pp. 212, 213, 1892. *Buteo borealis kriderii Hoopes. A. O. U. Check List, 2d Edition, p. 130, 1895. *Buteo borealis kriderii Hoopes. Ridgway, Robert, A Manual to North American Birds, 3d Edition, p. 231, 1896. Buteo borealis kriderii. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Han- cock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. Buteo borealis kriderii. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Buteo borealis kriderii. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 1897. Buteo borealis kriderii. Anderson, R. M., Nesting Habit of Krider's Hawk: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 31, July, 1897. (Winnebago and Hancock Counties.) Buteo borealis kriderii Hoopes. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalog of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, 1907, pp. 95-96. Buteo borealis krideri Hoopes. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. Buteo borealis krideri (Hoopes). Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. 9B. BUTEO BOREALIS CALURUS Cassin. 337b. Western Red-tail. Field Characters. — Dark colored Red-tailed hawks showing much red and rusty whitish beneath. Darker but otherwise like the East- ern Red-tail. Description. — Above showing very little light color, sometimes sooty ; the white of the Eastern Red- tail replaced by buffy, rusty, or dusky shades. Legs with rufous barring and tail having usually sev- eral more or less distinct black bars on the red background. Inter- grading specimens are common. Measurements. — About as in the Eastern Red-tail. THE WESTERN RED-TAIL 111 Range. — Western United States generally, extending eastward to the western part of the plains region. Casually reaching Iowa and Illinois. This darker western form of the Red-tailed Hawk is taken occa- sionally in Iowa not only in the western part, but in the eastern as well. It has been found nesting in the state, but aside from the color of the birds there is nothing to distinguish it from the other varieties which may be found in the same region. The contrast in color be- tween a typical Red-tail of the eastern type, and this western form, in a well-marked specimen is pronounced, but intergradations seem to be the rule rather than the exception. The stomach contents of this form will be found listed with that of the Red-tailed Hawk, the variety being indicated. Fig. 39. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Western Red-tail. Buteo Lacepede, Tableaux Ois., 4, 1799. Type, by tautonymy, Falco buteo Linnaeus. Falco borealis Gmelin, Syst. Nat, I, 1, 266, 1788. (Carolina.) Buteo calurus Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., VII, 281, 1855. (Near Fort Webster, Rio Mimbres, New Mexico.) Buteo borealis calurus Cassin. *Buteo borealis harlani. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 3, 1897. 112 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Buteo borealis calurus. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, p. 96, 1907. Buteo borealis calurus (Cassin). Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swen>k, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. Buteo borealis calurus (Cass.). Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. Fig. 40. — Harlan's Hawk, or Black Red-tail. 9C. BUTEO BOREALIS HARLANI (Audubon). 337d. Harlan's Hawk. Black Red-tail. Field Characters. — A large blackish hawk without a red tail, and to be distinguished by no other special characters. More likely to be confused with dark forms of the Rough-legged Hawk than with any others. Description. — Above, dusky or sooty, the tail mottled with black, whitish, and some red. Below, whitish to dusky or sooty, in lighter forms the lower breast showing more or less of a dark belt. Imma- ture birds with barred tails. HARLAN'S HAWK Measurements. — Similar to the Eastern Red-tail. 113 Range. — Southeastern United States, casually coming to Ne- braska, Iowa and Illinois. Breeds in Iowa. This handsome species is not common in the state but is occasion- ally taken, and has been found breeding. At seasons of the year when the Rough-legged hawks are with us, dark individuals of the Rough-leg may be taken for Marian's Hawks. In the hand, however, the completely feathered tarsi of the Rough-leg at once differen- tiates it from Harlan's Hawk .which has the major part of the tarsi bare. There is no distinguishable difference in the food or nesting habits of this subspecies. It intergrades with the Red-tail, and though well-marked individuals suggest a distinct species, no definite line of differentiation separating the two and leaving no specimens unde- termined, can be drawn. The report on the stomach contents of this form will be found listed with that of the Red-tailed Hawk, the variety being indicated. Fig. 41. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of Harlan's Hawk. Buteo Lacepede, Tableaux Ois., 4, 1799. Type, by tautonymy, Falco buteo Linnaeus. Falco borealis Gmelin, Syst. Nat., I, i, 266, 1788. (Carolina.) Falco harlani Audubon, Birds Amer. (folio), I, pi. 86, 1830. (Near St. Francisville, Louisiana.) Buteo borealis harlani (Audubon). 114 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA *Buteo harlani (Aud.). Cooke, W. W., Report on the Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, p. 115. *Buteo harlani (Aud.). Ridgway, Robert, A Manual to North American Birds, p. 231, 1887. *Buteo harlani. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Orni- thologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. *Buteo borealis harlani (Audubon). Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of the North American Birds, Vol. 1, p. 217, 1892. *Buteo borealis harlani. Fisher, A. K., The Hawks and Owls of the United States: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Orni- thology and Mammalogy, Bull. 3, p. 52, 1893. *Buteo borealis harlani (Aud.). A. O. U. Checklist, 2d Edition, p. 131, 1895. '*Buteo borealis harlani (Aud.). Ridgway, Robert, A Manual to North American Birds, 2d Edition, p. 231, 1896, *Buteo borealis harlani. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Han- cock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. *Buteo borealis harlani. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 3, 1897. fButeo borealis harlani. Keyes, Charles Reuben, Breeding of Harlan's Hawk in Iowa: Warbler, III, pp. 41-45, 1907. Illustrated. Buteo borealis harlani. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Buteo borealis harlani (Aud.). Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, pp. 96-97, 1907. Buteo borealis harlani (Aud.). Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. Buteo borealis harlani (Aud.). Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. THE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 115 Fig. 42. — The Red-shouldered Hawk. 10. BUTEO LINEATUS LINEATUS (Gmelin). 339. Red-shouldered Hawk. Chicken Hawk. Hen Hawk. Field Characters. — A medium large, reddish colored hawk, with white-banded wings and tail, frequenting timber, especially bottom- land near water. Description. — Above, brownish, the feathers edged with reddish buff. Flight feathers black and white barred; shoulders of wings noticeably reddish. Tail black, with four or five conspicuous white bars. Below, tawny buff continuously barred with white. Immature birds : Whitish below with streaks of dusky. Tail crossed by many narrow bars of buffy brown. Shoulders evidently reddish. Measurements. — Length, 18 to 21 inches; wing, 12 to 14 inches; tail, 9 to 10 inches. Range. — Eastern North America to the Plains, and from British America to the Gulf, breeding in its range, north of the Gulf States. The Red-shouldered Hawk, while fairly common in parts of the state, is riot conspicuous, since it has the habit of frequenting the 116 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA heavier timber and wooded bottom lands along our streams. This species is among the most handsomely marked of our Iowa birds of prey. Immature birds, though in other respects differing from the adults, show more or less of the characteristic red coloration of the shoulders. Professor Charles R. Keyes has found it nesting during April on the Cedar river bottoms near Mount Vernon, and together with Mr. Jasper Brown of Norway has found them frequenting similar haunts along Iowa river in the Amana colony. Mr. Brown collected two sets of four eggs each and one of five, on April 7, 11 and 9, respectively. In each instance the nest was in an oak tree, at the average height of forty feet, and was composed of sticks, twigs, bark, etc., and lined with grass, dry leaves and feathers. The nest examined April 7 contained a frog and a snake. R. M. Anderson considers it "rare in the northern portion, and not reported from the western part of the state," but much more com- mon, though frequently unobserved, in southeastern Iowa. Many authors refer to the attachment of this hawk to its nesting site, and to its habit of laying supplemental sets if the first eggs are taken. The bill of fare of the Red-shouldered Hawk includes earthworms, insects, crayfish, fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, and mammals of the humbler sort. The species is unquestionably of economic value to the state. Fig-. 43. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Red-shouldered Hawk. STOMACH CONTENTS OF THE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 117 i 1 MISCELLANEOUS asshopper, beetle, dragon fly and other insect remains Barter snake (1 foot long.) grasshoppers., asshoppers o ^ o ; i • o "£ 121 i i i v5 s : : w ! 11 o M & I ^ M Q T-H O i^"1 * ^ !- & "S : g" LOCALITY o | jo 1 Jj > ^ ^0 ^ ^O^C g : O : CO £ \ |^ S : £H S ^c - « "* 118 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Buteo lineatus lineatus (Gmelin). *Say, Thomas, In Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Canton- ment, Pottawattamie County.) *Allen, J. A., Notes on the Birds Observed in Western Iowa in the months of July, August and September: Memoir of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 1, p. 499, 1868. *Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural Sciences, Vol. 15, p. 242, 1872. (De- catur and Mahaska Counties.) *Jay, James C., Great Horned Owl Eggs: The Hoosier Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 112, 1886. (Des Moines.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 87, 1888. *Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Anno- tated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 127, 1888. Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Powe- shiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, p. 52, March, 1889. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 472, 1889. *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 264, 1891. *Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 188, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 219, 1892. * Savage, David L., Notes on the Birds of Henry County, Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 10, No. 12, p. 325, 1893. *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 3, 1897. * Savage, W. G., Some Notes on the Birds and Weather in Van Buren County, Iowa, March, 1897: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 26, April, 1897. *Bartsch, Paul, -Summer Birds of the Oneota Valley, (June, July, 1895): The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 55, October, 1897. (Win- neshiek County-.) Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalog of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, 1907, p. 97. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 249, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 95, 1907. SWAINSON'S HAWK 119 Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 464, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, .R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. A. O. U. Check List, 1910, p. 158. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 296, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. * jGabrielson, Ira N., Some Marshalltown, Iowa, Notes: Auk. XXXI, pp. 255-6, 1914. 11. BUTEO SWAINSONI Bonaparte. 342. Sw'ainson's Hawk. Big Chicken Hawk. Field Characters. — A large brownish hawk with banded tail, white throat and belly, and conspicuous reddish buff breast. Description. — Above, dusky brown; feathers edged with buff. Tail grayish with many dusky bars. Below, whitish or buffy, with dusky or rusty streaks or spots; the breast conspicuously reddish buff or brownish; the throat white. Immature birds with more buff or reddish buff above. Below, light buff with dark streaks and spots. Measurements. — Length, 20 to 22 inches; wing, 15 to 17 inches; tail, 8 to 10 inches. Range. — Most of North and South America, breeding in most parts of its North American range. During the past twenty years or more, while the writer has exam- ined in the flesh many lowan Raptores, there has never come to hand an adult specimen of Swainson's Hawk. This experience, however, I do not believe to be a fair index to its numbers in the state. Others have been more fortunate, Professor Charles R. Keyes having col- lected a set of eggs May 10, 1892, near Norway, that were laid in an old hawk's nest fitted up and lined with strips of bark, green twigs and feathers, and situated fifty feet up in a white oak. R. M. Ander- son writes, "It is fairly well distributed over Iowa as a migrant and nests from the central to the northern portion of the State. The Swainson's Hawk nests somewhat later than the Red-tail, in the early part of May in northern Iowa. The nest is built in the small rem- nants of native groves, or moderately timbered tracts, and the birds seem quite careless about its concealment. Almost invariably fresh sprigs of green leaves are found in nests containing eggs." 120 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OFIOWA Mr. Anderson mentions finding a "dead green snake about fifteen inches long" which hung on a limb near a nest in which were three eggs of this hawk. N. S. Goss in "History of the Birds of Kansas" says the food con- sists of "rabbits, gophers, mice, lizards, young birds, etc," and of grasshoppers, which are secured while in flight. Captain Charles Bendire says of Swainson's Hawk, "I cannot re- call a single instance where one of these birds visited a poultry yard ; and if other food is procurable it will seldom molest a bird of any kind. From an economic point of view I consider it by far the most useful and beneficial of all our hawks." The note has been described as a frequently repeated "pi-tick, pi-tick." . 44. — Map showing- the distribution in Iowa of Swainson's Hawk. STOMACH CONTENTS OF SWAINSON'S HAWK 121 OQ a . g NEOUS I 1 ill MlSCELLA ill 1 CO Q K 1 Q ^H C*2 i— T T— 1 S3* p. H ij 1 i 5 t^ c ffl Q W 1 1 6 r-H (M 122 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Buteo swainsoni Bonaparte. Baird, Brewer & Ridgway, Birds of North America, Land Birds, Vol. 3, p. 266, 1874. Preston, J. W., Hawk Notes: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 10, No. 3, p. 35, 1885. (Baxter.) Jones, L. and Parker, H. W., in W. W. Cooke's Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Di- vision of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, p. 116, 1888. (LaPorte City and Newton.) Peck, G. D., H. E. and Morton, Ibid. (La Porte City.) Preston, J. W. Ibid. (Newton.) Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 62, March, 1889. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 474, 1889. Keyes, Charles Rollins, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 127, 1888. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oolo- gist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 265, 1891. Jones, Lynds, in Bendire's Life History of the North American Birds, Vol. 1, p. 239, 1892. (Grinnell.) Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 189, 1892. Preston, J. W., Ibid. (Baxter.) Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 236, 1892. Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Represented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Entomology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the United States, p. 72, 1893. Anderson, R. M., A Hawk Diary: The Nidologist, Vol. 3, Nos. 10, 11, pp. 124-5, 1896. (Forest City.) Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 4, 1897. Anderson, R. M., Nesting Habit of Kriders Hawk: The Iowa Ornitholo- gist, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 31, 32, July, 1897. (Winnebago County.) Brown, Jasper, Action of a Great Horned Owl: Popular Science News, Vol. 32, p. 257, November, 1898. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 250, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 96, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, pp. 97, 98. THE BROAD-WINGED HAWK 125 Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 465, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. A. 0. U. Check List, 1910, p. 159. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 298, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. 12. BUTEO PLATYPTERUS (Vieillot). 343. Broad-winged Hawk. Field Characters. — A medium- sized brownish hawk with conspic- uously banded tail. A rather unwary hawk, found either in woods or meadows. Description. — Above, brownish, darker on the back. Tail dark, with about four light bands. Below, heavily barred with brownish or rusty buff. Throat streaked with black ; belly whitish. Immature : Back dusky ; under parts with dusky spots and streaks on a white or buffy background. Tail with several more or less dis- tinct bands. Measurements. — Length, 15 to 18 inches; wing, 10 to 11 inches; tail, 7 to 8 inches. Range. — From eastern British America to the Gulf, wintering from middle United States southward. The Broad- winged Hawk fills a somewhat unique position among the diurnal birds of prey in that it seems to be partial in its diet to the larvae of certain moths, etc., which do not appeal to the taste of other raptorial birds. It has as little dash as any of our birds of prey, and is less suspi- cious than other hawks. It is to be seen perched in trees in rather dense second-growth timber, hopping about on sandy ground in pur- suit of grasshoppers, or circling high in the air after the manner of other buzzard hawks. During migration it is more common than at other seasons of the year. On September 22, 1911, Professor J. H. Scott, Mr. S. N. Harris and the writer witnessed a flight of Broad-winged Hawks near Cedar Rapids, which must have numbered between two and three thousand individuals of this species, besides a few Cooper's, Marsh, Red-tailed, and one Harlan's Hawk which we identified. These birds were so numerous at times, and so closely assembled as to suggest a swarm of gnats. The stomach of a Broad-wing shot at the time contained 126 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA insect remains, chiefly beetles.. Later in the day the stragglers of this flock were noted feeding along the grasshopper-infested sandbars of Cedar river. By far the greater number of specimens that have come to hand have been immature birds. It is related that Audubon once removed a Broad-wing from the nest, carefully measured and sketched it, then released it without the bird's having given the least evidence of irritability. An immature bird of this species was brought to me, and was taken in hand, posed on several perches, its plumage arranged. It even al- lowed the full spreading of one wing while being photographed, with- out resentment. Captain Bendire in summarizing its breeding habits says, "It is a late breeder; in the more southern portion of its range nidification begins about the second week in April and correspondingly later northward. In the New England states, northern New York, Penn- sylvania, Iowa and Minnesota generally in the latter half of May; and in New Brunswick and the southern portions of Canada about the beginning of June and sometimes later. Incubation lasts twenty- one to twenty-five days, and the eggs are deposited at intervals of one or two days. Both parents assist in incubation and in the care of the young. A single brood is raised in a season." Rarely sets of four eggs are taken, two or three being the rule. A set of two eggs taken at Duluth, Minnesota, measure respectively 2.20 by 1.73 inches and 2.07 by 1.65 inches, and are soiled whitish in ground color with both bold and subdued spots of chocolate brown and lilac tending to become confluent at the smaller end of each egg. Mr. Frank L. Burns in his "Monograph of the Broad-winged Hawk" gives the summary of the food of this species as ascertained by several observers. In 115 stomachs examined, 11 contained birds ; 31, mice; 17, other mammals; 17, reptiles; 22, batrachians; 45, in- sects; 10, crayfish; 2, spiders; 1, thousand-legs; 2, earthworms; and 7 were empty. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE BROAD- WINGED HAWK 121 Fig-. 47. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Broad-winged Hawk. Buteo platypterus. (Vieillot). Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Canton- ment, Pottawattamie County.) Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural Sciences, Vol. 15, p. 242, 1872. (Deca- tur and Mahaska Counties.) Ridgway, R., Description of a Melanistic Specimen of Buteo latissimus: Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum, Vol. 10, pp. 248-249, 1886. (Clear Lake.) Cooke, W. W., Report on the Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, p. 116. G. D., H. E. and Morton Peck. Ibid. (LaPorte City.) Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Acad- emy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 127, 1888. Ridgway, Robert, Ibid. (Crystal lake, Hancock County.) 128 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 89, 1888. Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. Ridgway, Robert, Ornithology of Illinois, p. 476, 1889. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 267, 1891. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 241, 1892. Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 190, 1892. Trostler, Isador S., A tramp through Woods and Marshes of Eastern Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 9, No. 9, p. 210, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 79, 1893. Anderson, R. M., A Hawk Diary: The Nidologist, Vol. 3, Nos. 10, 11, p. 124, 1896. (Forest City.) Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. (Lake Mills.) Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptoxes: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 4, 1897. Bartsch, Paul, Summer Birds of the Oneota Valley, (June, July, 1895) : The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 55, October, 1897. (Winne- shiek and Allamakee Counties.) Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 251, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 96, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, 1907, pp. 98, 99. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 467, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 51, 1909. A. O. U. Check List, 1910, p. 159. fBurns, Frank L., A Monograph of the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) : Wils. Bull. XXIII, pp. 143-320, 1911. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 298, 1912. fBailey, B. H., The Occurrence of Melanism in the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo latissimus) : Proc. la. Acad. Sci., XIX, pp. 191-192, 1912. fBailey, B. H., A Remarkable Flight of Broad-winged Hawks (Buteo latis- simus): Proc. la. Acad. Sci., XIX, pp. 195-196, 1912. Bunker, C. D., Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. STOMACH CONTENTS OF THE BROAD-WINGED HAWK 129 9 02 oa o « « S-c ' SH ^H !-> O2 — - i ' ' , . CO l> O5 SJ ft ooo 660 S s I S s OQ e>-: a ^ ill 1 1 1 1 111 130 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Fig. 48. — Iowa Broad-winged Hawk (Photo by Mr. Wesley F. Kubichek). 12A. BUTEO PLATYPTERUS IOWENSIS Sub-sp. Nov. Iowa Broad-winged Hawk. Field Characters. — A medium-sized hawk appearing entirely black. It may be seen together with the ordinary Broad-winged Hawks. Description. — Feathers of the entire bird in general sooty brown with a slightly rufous cast, the back and top of the head somewhat darker. Concealed bases of head and nape feathers snow white. Lin- ing of wings in general same color as body. Whitish barring no- ticed on the under surface of primaries and secondaries. Exposed surface of tail with three dark bars, and two narrower grayish white bars, and narrow whitish tip. Immature: With more rufous, especially on breast; tail crossed by five dark and four slightly lighter bars ; tail lighter below. THE IOWA BROAD-WINGED HAWK 131 Measurements. — Length, 16.50 to 18 inches; wing, 11 to 11.62 inches ; tail, about 7 inches. Range. — From Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie southward through Minnesota to central and southern Iowa (Des Moines and Iowa City) ; Virginia ( ?). This dark form, so far as our present knowledge of its habits ex- tends, differs in no respects from the common Broad-wing. Of the type specimen Mr. Ward wrote, "The bird was sitting in a tree, but started to fly when we came upon it. It was alone." The stomach of this bird contained a partly digested frog, and the crop held the fore-foot of a frog. No records of its nesting habits have been published. Buteo platypterus iowensis Sub sp. Nov. Ridgway, R., Proc. U. S. Nat'l. Museum, Vol. IX, pp. 248-249, October, 1886. Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., Preliminary Annotated Cata- logue of the Birds of Iowa: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci., Vol. 5, p. 127, 1888. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 251, 1907. Burns, Frank L., The Wilson Bulletin, Vol. XXIII, Nos. 3 and 4, 1911. Bailey, B. H., The Occurrence of Melanism in the Broad-winged Hawk, (B. latissimus) : Proc. la. Acad. of Sci., XIX, pp. 191-192, 1912. Bailey, B. H., The Auk, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 73-75, January, 1917. Fig. 49. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Iowa Broad-winged Hawk. 132 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OP IOWA Genufe Asturina Vieillot. 13. ASTURINA PLAGIATA Schlegel.- 346. Mexican Goshawk. Field Characters. — A medium sized, ashy-gray hawk, with white at the base of the tail. Description. — "Above, deep ashy-gray, top of head and back of neck with five blackish shaft streaks; tail black, tipped with white, and crossed by two or three narrow bands of white; feathers cover- ering base of tail white; below, white, very regularly barred with ashy, the stripes being farther apart on the flanks and belly." (Fisher.) Measurements. — Length, 16 to 18 inches; wing, 9.50 to 11.70 inches; tail, 670 to 8.20 inches (Fisher). Range. — "Southern Arizona and lower Rio Grande Valley south to Costa Rica; winters south of the United States; accidental in southern Illinois." (A. O. U. Check List, 1910.) Also accidental in Iowa. (W. G. Savage.) Fig. 50. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Mexican Goshawk. The Mexican Goshawk is a rare straggler from the Southwest. It was seen in southern Illinois by Mr. Robert Ridgway. (Ornithology of 111., p. 463, 1889.) A single instance of its occurrence is recorded by R. M. Anderson THE ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 133 in The Birds of Iowa, p. 251, 1907. The capture was made by Wal- ter G. Savage, in Van Buren county on Big Cedar creek, May 25, 1895. The chief interest in this species lies in its having been taken in Iowa so far from its usual range. Doubtless other species quite as rare have remained unrecorded for Iowa because they were unrec- ognized. Asturina plagiata Schlegel. Ridgway, Robert, Ornithology of Illinois, p. 463, 1889. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 251, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 85, 1893. Savage, Walter G., Under Notes and News: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. I, No. 4, p. 89. (Van Buren County.) Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 251, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 469, 1909. Genus Archibuteo Brehm. Subgenus Archibuteo 14. ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS SANCTI-JOHANNIS (Gmelin). 347a. Rough-legged Hawk. Black Hawk. St. John's Hawk. Field Characters. — This hawk occurs in two phases, the light and the dark. The light phase is to be recognized by a conspicuous dark belt across the belly and thighs. The basal part of the tail, the legs, and in part the head are whitish. In the darker phase the bird is uni- formly brownish, black or sooty. They are birds of the open fields or marsh land, and are not found in the state during the summer. Description. — Above, dusky with tawny or buff edgings to the feathers of the back and upper wings. Head noticeably lighter than back ; basal part of tail whitish, the remainder blackish or banded. Below, white or buffy-white streaked with black, the markings form- ing a distinct belt across the belly including the thighs. Legs feath- ered completely to the toes. In the dark phase, more or less uni- formly black or brownish black. Measurements. — Length, 20 to 23 inches; wing, 16 to 18 inches; tail, 9 to 11 inches. 134 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Fig:. 51. — Rough-legged Hawks, dark phase, male, above; light phase, fe- male, below. Range. — North America above Mexico; breeding north of the United States, and wintering in most parts of the United States. The Rough-legged Hawk is a fairly common species throughout the state during the late fall, winter and early spring months. Through several years of observation I am confirmed in the belief that they are more abundant in November, and again late in Febru- ary and in the first half of March, than during the midwinter season. These hawks begin to appear with the early snows ; and, as the ground becomes more deeply and continuously covered, they move southward in the main, comparatively few remaining if the winter be severe. When the spring thaws bring conditions similar to those of late autumn, they return, but in numbers not so apparent, either because they are more wary through experience with the nimrods of regions farther south, or perhaps because a more rapid northward migration gives us less time for observation. The majority of our specimens of the Rough-leg secured in various parts of Iowa, have been taken in November, and about two-thirds of them are of the dark or melan- istic plumage. HABITS OF THE ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 135 The conspicuous dark tipped wings and belted body enable one to identify this species considerably beyond gun range. These hawks are seen skirting timber-lands, but not frequenting the woods. They prefer open prairies and wet meadows. Their methods of feeding are first by "watchful waiting." The bird quietly perches upon a stump or post not far above the ground and there awaits the appearance of a field mouse, shrew, or other small ani- Fig. 52. — Rough-legged Hawk, dark phase. mal, upon which it descends without dash or evident spirit. The sec- ond method simulates that of the Marsh Hawk. Coursing back and forth over the field or along the margin of the slough, the Rough-leg drops easily upon such small prey as it may find, often hunting very late in the evening, its crepuscular habits characterizing it as the most nocturnal of our diurnal birds of prey. The food of the Rough-legged Hawk is such as to warrant us in calling it one of the farmer's best friends. Though it. does not re- 136 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA main to continue its good offices during the summer months, it does much good during the colder seasons. Although some writers ac- cuse this hawk of killing ducks and other wild fowl, there is nothing in my observations to sustain these statements. Mice seem to be a staple article of diet, and its continuous warfare upon such vermin ought to result in the protection it so much deserves. A. K. Fisher reports that "of 49 stomachs examined, 40 contained mice . . ." Captain Bendire regards the records of the nesting of this species in the United States as questionable. Fig. 53. — Rough-legged Hawk, light phase. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-Johannis (Gmel.). *Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 132, 1872. (Deca- tur and Mahaska Counties.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 92, 1888. Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Anno- tated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p.' 127, 1888. Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. I, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 478, 1889. *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and BIBLIOGRAPHY OP THE ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 37 Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 269, 1891. *Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 192, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 255, 1892. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, No. 2, p. 17, April, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 86, 1893. Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 8. *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. (Franklin County.) Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Wilson, B. H., The Wilson Bulletin, March, 1906, p. 3. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. of Sci. of St. Louis, 1907, p. 99. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 251, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., The Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 97, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 471, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., Review of the Birds of Nebras- ka, p. 52, 1909. A. O. U. Check List, 1910, p. 161. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 300, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. Fig-. 54. — Map showing- the distribution in Iowa of the Rough-legged Hawk. 138 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA THE FERRUGINOUS ROUGH-LEG 139 Fig. 55. — Ferruginous Rough-legged Hawk. Subgenus Brewsterii Maynard. 15. ARCHIBUTEO FERRUGINEUS (Lichtenstein). 348. Ferruginous Rough-leg. California Squirrel Hawk. Field Characters. — A large reddish backed, white breasted hawk. Sluggish as compared with other hawks, and found hunting early and late in open fields. Description. — Above, rufous, especially on the wings, the centers of the feathers dusky or brownish black ; tail ashy white, the feathers edged with tawny. Below, white, with a few reddish streaks on the sides of upper breast and body. Legs sharply contrasting with other parts below, being reddish with numerous black bars, and feathered to the toes. 140 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Measurements.— Length, 22 to 24 inches ; wing, 16 to 18 inches ; tail, 10 to 11 inches. Range. — Western United States, wandering casually to Iowa, Wis- consin and Illinois. This large hawk is conspicuously a bird of the open prairies of the west and comes only occasionally into Iowa, though it is sometimes taken east of the Mississippi. Dr. Elliott Coues is said to have re- garded it as the "handsomest of the North American Falconidae." The only specimen which I have ever seen that has been taken in Iowa is in the collection of the State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls. Several authors have referred to it as nesting near Grinnell, but this record is denied by Mr. Lynds Jones, to whom Captain Bendire erroneously attributed the record. (Anderson, Birds of Iowa, p. 252, 1907.) By those who have watched these birds closely, their flight when soaring at a great height is described as resembling that of the Golden Eagle ; and when winnowing the air a short distance above the ground their flight simulates that of the Osprey. Their food is mostly small mammals such as ground squirrels, field mice, and rabbits, and also reptiles. Although, because of their infrequent visits to the state they are not an immediate economic factor, they probably play a part in limit- ing the range of injurious rodents which, unchecked, might reach our borders. Archibuteo ferrugineus (Lichtenstein). *Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, 3d Edition, p. 551, 1887. *Jones, L., and Parker, H. W., in W. W. Cooke's Report on the Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull, 2, p. 117. (Grinnell.) Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 481, 1889. *Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 271, 1881. *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oolo- gist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. *Coues, E., Key to North American Birds, 4th Edition, p. 551, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 194, 1892. *Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, Vol. 1, p. 259, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 91, 1893. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 17, April, 1897. BIBLIOGRAPHY OP THE FERRUGINOUS ROUGH-LEG 141 Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci., St. Louis, pp. 99-100, 1907. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 252, 1907. ' Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p.. 469, 1909. A. O. U. Check List, p. 161, 1910. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 300, 1912. Fig. 56. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Ferruginous Rough- legged H'awk. 142 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Fig-. 57.— The Golden Eagle. Genus Aquila Brisson. 16. AQUILA CHRYSAETOS (Linnaeus). 349. Golden Eagle. Field Characters. — A bird of prey of the largest size; uniformly dark brown, except for the golden feathers on back of head. Bill, horn color ; legs feathered to the toes. Description. — Above and below brownish; feathers with a golden hue on nape of neck and back of head. Tail feathers often mottled, and with lighter color at the base. Immature birds characterized by having about half of the basal portion of the tail white; the leg feathers also lighter in color. Always distinguishable from the Bald Eagle by the feet, which are •feathered to the bases of the toes. THE GOLDEN EAGLE 143 Measurements. — Length, about 30 inches ; wing, 23 to 26 inches ; tail, 14 to 16 inches. Range. — In North America from Alaska to Mexico and eastward even as far as Maine; more common in the western part of the United States. Straggling more or less regularly into Iowa. The Golden Eagle is not a rare bird in Iowa, though not common at any place nor at any time. Authors generally speak of its occurrence in this and neighboring states in the winter, but I incline to the belief, with Mr. R. M. An- derson, that the greater number of birds are observed during the early spring and late fall months. N. S. Goss mentions the difference in spirit between the Golden and Bald Eagles in captivity, the former remaining untamed, while the latter becomes docile. He states that the former rejected food which was in the least tainted, while the latter bird ate such food un- hesitatingly. A beautiful Golden Eagle was captured about two miles west of Burr Oak, Iowa, in November, 1914. The bird had seized a full grown chicken in each foot; when, its claws becoming entangled in the meshes of some chicken wire, a boy drew the wire over the eagle so as to capture it. The Golden Eagle has not been reported as nesting in Iowa. In the west, where it is common, it chooses a site on rugged cliffs rather than in trees, though the latter are occasionally utilized. A. K. Fisher reports that "The food consists mainly of mammals and birds, of which spermophiles, rabbits, fawns, lambs, turkeys, grouse, waterfowl and other large birds form the principal part, though offal and carrion are sometimes taken." In the sheep-grazing areas of the west, these eagles destroy consid- erable numbers of lambs, but in Iowa their depredations are chiefly confined to wildfowl and poultry. The numbers of rabbits, gophers, groundhogs and other rodents, however, destroyed in this section of its range, more than repay the farmer for protecting these noble birds. 144 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Aquila chrysaetos (Linnaeus). *Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Canton- ment, Pottawattamie County.) *Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Parker, H. W., Iowa Birds: The American Naturalist, Vol. 5, p. 169, 1871. (Poweshiek and Jasper Counties.) *Cooke, W. W., Report on the Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, pp. 117-118. (Central and Northern Iowa.) *George, F., Ibid, p. 118. (Williamstown.) Peck, G. D., H. E., and Morton, Ibid, p. 118. (La Porte City.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 93, 1888. Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Anno- tated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 127, 1888. (Des Moines.) Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 483, 1889. *Sheldon, Frank W., Brief Notes: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 5, p. 78, 1891. (Des Moines.) Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 273, 1891. *Thomson, A. V., Bald and Golden Eagles in Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 31, 1891. (Decorah.) "•Thomson, A. V., More about Iowa Eagles: The Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 8, p. 159, 1891. (Decorah.) Fig. 58. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Golden Eagle. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE 145 Hatch, Dr. P. L., The Birds of Minnesota, p. 195, 1892. *Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 263, 1892. *Fisher, A. K., The Hawks and Owls of the United States: U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, Bull. 3, pp. 93, 97, 1893. *Strode, Dr. W. L., An Adventure with an Eagle: The Nidologist, Vol. 1, pp. 9, 10, 1893. (Northern Iowa.) *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. *Brown, H. J., Notes and News: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 24, 1897. (Davenport.) Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 97, 1907. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 253, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, 1907, p. 100. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 472, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 52, 1909. A. O. U. Check List, p. 162, 1910. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 301, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. 146 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA s II £ d :~ 35 6 s itg |S«r o£ ^ 00 iH -a THE BALD EAGLE 147 Fig. 59.— The Bald Eagle. Genus Haliaeetus Savigny. 17. IjALIJEETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS LEUCOCEPHALUS (Linnaeus). 352. Bald Eagle. White-headed Eagle. Field Characters. — A bird of prey of the largest size. Adult bird having white head and tail. Head never bald. Body dusky. Immature birds lack the white head and tail. Legs not feathered to the toes at any age or in any plumage. Description. — Above, head, neck and tail, pure white; back and wings dusky or brownish. Bill and eyes yellow. Below, throat, neck and tail white ; body, brown or dusky. Immature birds are without the white head and tail, being uni- formly brownish or dusky. Bill dark, and eyes brown. In any plum- age the legs and feet are feathered only part way to the bases of the toes. Measurements. — Length, 32 to 36 inches ; wing, 22 to 24 inches ; tail, 12 to 15 inches. Range. — United States in general, found breeding in suitable lo- calities. 148 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA While the Bald Eagle is a noble bird when in full flight, or perched on some lofty eminence, his habits and general character at times do not sustain the ideal which the public entertains with regard to him. A persecutor of the industrious Osprey, and an invader of the chicken yard, he is more often taken while perpetrating some such misde- meanor, than in his more dignified and sublime moments. Though remaining occasionally through the winter, the early spring days which witness the breaking up of the ice in the larger water courses and the northward movement of the wildfowl, find the Bald Eagle migrating northward, ever on the lookout for fish or other food whether living or decayed. On one occasion while the writer was floating down Red Cedar river in the latter part of March, he saw seven of these eagles in the course of the day, all of them being in the immature plumage. We are indebted to Professor Charles R. Keyes, of Mount Ver- non, Iowa, for the only authentic record that has come to hand of the nesting of the Bald Eagle in Iowa. "Mr. Arthur Jayne found a nest of this species the last of March, 1892, two and one-half miles northwest of Waubeek, Linn county. The nest was up 60 or 65 feet in a large bass-wood tree on the south side of the Wapsipinicon river, on a bluff overlooking the stream. The owner of the land said that the birds Had nested there for years. Mr. Jayne got up to the nest but was unable to look fully into it. On the last visit both the old birds flew about, coming, he thought, as close as twenty-five or thirty feet. A week previously one old bird had remained on the nest while he had watched for some time from below and had made unsuccess- ful attempts to climb the tree. The nest was a very bulky affair, a regular 'wagon load' of sticks, some of them as large as one's wrist." Though nesting much less frequently in Iowa than in former years, there is little doubt that the Bald Eagle still finds suitable nest- ing sites and hunting grounds in some parts of the state. The fre- quency of such names as Eagle Rock, and Eagle's Nest, in various localities in Iowa suggests that it was once not uncommon in this region. The nest is usually described as a mass of sticks and other debris, sometimes six feet in diameter, varying in thickness according to the number of years it has been in use, and lined with grass, weeds, vines, etc. Trees rather than cliffs are preferred as nesting sites. The eggs, which are usually two, rarely three in number, are whit- ish, soiled, and measure about 2.90 by 2.25 inches. FOOD OP THE BALD EAGLE 149 Stories relating the carrying of small children to the eyries of these great birds are to be generally discredited, the more careful writers giving credence to only one or two of the numerous published stories of this kind. Mr. G. H. Berry has on several occasions observed the Bald Eagle in March feeding on dead fish, mainly carp, that were frozen in the ;~~ of Cedar lake, within the city limits of Cedar Rapids. Where fish can be secured this seems to be their chief diet ; mam- mals, birds and offal constitute most of the remainder. Fig. 60. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Bald Eagle. 150 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OP IOWA I \ a 1 7: fl i 03 O g S MAMMALS ^ : '£ j :1 J2 ®.=i I 'S<_s 4 -7 i ; . -C 1 ' 1 05 e ; i c c^ PQ oi i p ~ f 1 - P- g >r; ^ •4 c ^ Q 4 C C^ ,1 H s c c i i i > -d ; % 13 0 I i c ^ i i -J 1 — I 5 J CQ g £ — i § 6 c^ i C"1 5Z5 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE BALD EAGLE 151 Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus (Linnaeus). *Say, Thomas, In Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Canton- ment, Pottawattamie County.) *Maximilian, Prince zu Wied, (Weiskopfige Adler) Reise in das Innere Nord Americas. In den Jahren 1832-34. Vol. 1, p. 290, Coblenz, 1839. * Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Parker, H. W., Iowa Birds: The American Naturalist, Vol. 5, p. 169, 1871. (Poweshiek and Jasper Counties.) *Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur and Mahaska Counties.) *Mosher, A. A., The Fauna of Spirit Lake: Forest and Stream, Vol. 18, No. 4, p. 66, 1882. *W. H. R. (Andy Moore), Ducking at Waubonsie Lake: Forest and Stream, Vol. 19, No. 2, p. 27, 1882. (Glenwood.) *Schoolboy, Notes: Forest and Stream, Vol. 21, No. 3, p. 46, 1883. (Storm Lake.) *Wild, Doc, An Iowa Side Hunt: Forest and Stream, Vol. 21, No. 25, p. 498, 1883. (Rippey.) *Cooke, W. W., Report on the Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85 : U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Orni- thology, Bull. 2, p. 118. Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 95, 1888. Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Anno- tated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 127, 1888. *Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. Webster, E. B., The Hoosier Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 44, 1889. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 485, 1889. *Goss, R. D., "Old Abe" Jr: The Oologist, Vol. 6, No. 9, pp. 16-18, 1889. (New Sharon.) *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa. Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 275, 1891. Thomson, A. V., Bald and Golden Eagles in Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 31, 1891. (Decorah.) Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 196, 1892. *Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of the North American Birds, Vol. 1, p. 280, 1892. 152 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OP IOWA *Osbora, Herbert, A partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the United States, p. 97, 1893. * Jones, Lynds, Bird Migration at Grinnell, Iowa: The Auk, Vol. 12, p. 236, 1895. *Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 8. *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 18, April, 1897. * Savage, W. G., Some Notes on the Birds and Weather in Van Buren County, Iowa, March, 1897: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 26, 27, April, 1897. *Bartsch, Paul, Summer Birds of the Oneota Valley, (June, July, 1895): The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 55, October, 1897. (Alla- makee County.) Wilson, B. H., The Wilson Bulletin, p. 3, March, 1906. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 253, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 98, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, pp. 100-101, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 474, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 52, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 162, 1910. Chapman, F. M., The Birds of Eastern North America, p. 302, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. Family FALCONIDAE. Falcons, Caracaras, Etc. Subfamily FALCONINAE. Falcons. Genus Falco Linnaeus. 18. FALCO MEXICANUS Schlegel. 355. Prairie Falcon. Field Characters. — A medium sized, swift flying hawk, not given to soaring ; found on open dry prairies. Upper parts grayish brown ; lower parts white with dark spots on the flanks. Description. — Above, grayish brown, wing and tail feathers barred or spotted with buffy. Below, white with grayish brown or dusky THE PRAIRIE FALCON 153 flank markings. Immature birds have the feathers of the back broadly margined with buff. Measurements. — Length, 17 to 20 inches; wing, 11.60 to 14.30 inches ; tail, 6.40 to 9 inches (Fisher). Range. — From the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas to the Pacific, straggling eastward to Iowa and Illinois. This bird of the western plains visits Iowa rarely. Like its near relative, the Duck Hawk, it is a wandering bird, more particularly, however, one of the prairie region ; a "blue-blooded" falcon, power- ful for its size and weight. The only Iowa specimen the writer has seen is a male bird, num- ber 3576, in the museum of the State University of Iowa, which was taken at Storm Lake, by Frank Bond. Professor C. C. Nutting has written of this bird in the Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Sci- ence, 1892, p. 41. Dr. R. M. Anderson in "The Birds of Iowa" gives county, records from Black Hawk, Buena Vista, Lee, Linn, Mills, Pottawattamie and Sioux counties. Of its nesting habits, Dr. A. K. Fisher says, "The nest is placed usually on a shelf or in a niche on the perpendicular surface of a 'cut bank' so common in parts of the west, or among the crevices of rocky cliffs. It is probable that this Falcon also builds in hollow trees, as the Duck Hawk sometimes does. The eggs, which are usually three in number, though sets of four have occasionally been found, are deposited early in May, and by the latter part of July the young are able to leave the nest." Captain Bendire notes that sets of eggs com- monly five in number are found in the western parts of the United States. According to Ridgway, the eggs are "creamy white, vina- ceous white, or pale vinaceous buffy, sprinkled, speckled, or irregu- larly spotted with madder brown, 2.06 by 1.60 inches." There are no records of its having nested in Iowa. Of eleven stomachs examined as recorded in The Hawks and Owls of the U. S., by Dr. A. K. Fisher, p. 106, 1893, "3 contained game birds ; 5, other birds ; 2, mammals ; 2, insects ; and 3 were empty." Since individuals of this species reach Iowa rarely, their influence with us is negligible except as they help decimate the injurious faunal pests of western and southwestern regions which, if uncontrolled, might extend their range to our state. 154 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Fig. 61. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Prairie Falcon. Falco mexicanus Schlegel. *Cooke, W. W., Report on the Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, pp. 118-119. (Central Iowa.) Ridgway, R., The Ornithology of Illinois, p. 429, 1889. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 280, 1891. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 288, 1892. *Bond, Frank, in C. C. Nutting's Report of the Committee on State Fauna: Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science for 1892, Vol. 1, Part 3, p. 41, 1893. (Storm Lake.) *Bond, Frank, Ibid., Reprint, p. 2. (Storm Lake.) Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the United States, p. 104, 1893. "Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 17, 18, April, 1897. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 254, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, pp. 101-102, 1907. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 52, 1909. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 477, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 164, 1910. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 304, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. THE DUCK HAWK 157 Subgenus Rhynchodon Nitzeh. 19. FALCO PEREGRINUS ANATUM Bonaparte. 356a. Duck Hawk. Wandering Falcon. Great-footed Falcon. Field Characters. — Of medium size, slate color above, light buff below with black markings, especially on the sides. Flight accom- plished usually with continuous rapid wing strokes. Description. — Above, blackish on the head; back, dusky bluish slate; indistinct bars on the white-tipped tail. Wings having flight- feathers barred with buffy. Below, light buff with dark bars and spots on sides. Immature birds are dusky above, with buff-margined feathers; tail somewhat barred with gray. Sides of the head dark. Below, having heavier markings more generally distributed than in the adult. Measurements. — Length, 16 to 19 inches; wing, 12 to 14 inches; tail, 6 to 9 inches. Range. — Generally throughout North and South America ; on our continent breeding locally in many states. This "Noble Falcon" is a geographical variety of the Peregrine Falcon famous in heraldry. There is, perhaps, no swifter, more ag- gressive or courageous bird of prey. While not large, it is muscu- lar, with powerful talons and beak. The keenness of eye exhibited, not only in distant vision, but in the rapidity of accommodation re- quired as the bird dashes upon its quarry, gives an idea of the ex- traordinary functioning of every part of its vigorous body. Though ranging over North America, the Duck Hawk is a bird nowhere common, and usually is seen only at intervals. Writers generally speak of its depredations in the dove-cote and poultry-yard, as well as among the wildfowl of our coastal and interior waters. It has been reported to successfully attack mammals as large as the Jack Rabbit, and one observer records the killing of a Snowy Owl by one of these Falcons, after the Owl had raided the Falcon's nest and carried off one of its young. Mr. George Burge, of Mount Vernon, together with Mr. Russell Moore and the writer, for several years watched the nesting of the Duck Hawks at the "Palisades" on Cedar river in the southeastern part of Linn and the northeastern part of Johnson counties. The limestone cliffs which border the Cedar at this place for some two or three miles form an ideal nesting and hunting location for these Falcons. 158 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Duck Hawks were noted by Mr. Burge every year from 1892 to 1898. The birds arrived from the south during the first half of March, usually at the time of the early flight of wild-fowl. Their usual hunting time was in the early morning, and their call, a noisy Kak-Kak-Kak, rapidly repeated and shrill, was frequently heard. In a former article the capture of a Teal Duck, as witnessed by my friend, is described as follows : "The Falcon started in pursuit, and the little Blue-winged Teal, realizing its danger, redoubled its speed and began to squawk its alarm in unmistakable notes of fear. The Falcon, flying parallel to and about a rod distant from its quarry, with rapid beats of its wings, speedily gained a point opposite, and then, with astonishing swiftness, struck the Teal almost at right angles. The blow was delivered with such precision and such stun- ning force that feathers flew in all directions." In their nests the feathers of a Kingfisher and also those of a Flicker have been found. Messrs. James and Henry Ward of Britt have several times noted Duck Hawks during the hunting season in the vicinity of Eagle lake in Hancock county. They relate that on one occasion, while some hunters were concealed in the rushes, a flock of Teal Ducks number- ing about a dozen flew swiftly toward their place of hiding. At the instant when the hunters delivered their volley, the ducks, catching sight of a pursuing Duck Hawk, dashed downward into and under the water, successfully avoiding the shot and eluding the Hawk. The hunters believing they had bagged the entire flock, were greatly cha- grined a moment later to see the hawk flying away, not one duck hav- ing fallen either to their broadside or to the Falcon's claws. The writer collected an immature female of this species May 12, 1911, near Eagle lake, Hancock county. This individual was flying over the rushes of the marsh at a height of about ten feet, evidently hunting Rails, and successfully, as the examination of her alimentary canal later proved. Mr. Ward reports that he has seen the Duck Hawk catch White-bellied Swallows. Dr. Paul Bartsch pointed out to the writer while on a visit to Washington, D. C, a lofty building, where a Duck Hawk resorted, preying upon the tame pigeons which frequented the place in num- bers. Protection was accorded it, notwithstanding the destruction wrought among the doves, as evidenced by numerous "leg-bands" which were found, because of the novelty of having one of the wild- est and most solitary of Falcons in the very heart of the city. NESTS OF THE DUCK HAWK 159 The writer is inclined to believe that despite their infrequent oc- currence in any one locality there are more of these Falcons an- nually within our borders than is commonly believed. The Duck Hawk nests either in a natural crevice in a cliff, or in a cavity in some tall tree. The almost vertical limestone cliffs common along the rivers in many parts of eastern Iowa, as well as hollows in tall trees, afford suitable nesting sites. Often the only means of ac- cess, where the nest is placed on a cliff, is by means of a rope lowered from above. The eggs are laid directly upon the rocks or the bottom of the nesting cavity, there being no attempt at nest building. From three to six eggs form a complete set, and are deposited us- ually during the first half of April. If the eggs of the first setting are taken, another clutch will be laid, the birds being strongly attached to a nesting site once it has been chosen. Second sets have usually a smaller number of eggs, and they are likely to be less heavily marked than those of the first clutch. In color, the eggs vary from buff or dirty white and almost un- marked to those so heavily marked with reddish-brown as to nearly conceal the ground color. Mr. Burge has in all a series of seven beautiful sets, two of them of six eggs each, one of five, and four of four eggs each. An average egg measures about 2 by 1.55 inches. Fig. 64. — Map showing distribution in Iowa of the Duck Hawk. 160 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA gi 4.NEOUS H ONTENTS 9 U W 0 02 1 OQ PH H "8 02 PR C .9 1 H H Q c ^ PM H i 1 M I 1 M| X H : i £ ; ;jg III 1 illl H : : 6 02 02 32 : 1 |||I I 1 || c^ ^ ^r> c^ ^ ^ ~*~^ ^ o; >fl2T3 T3 T3.-S^^ > Q^ j~ QJ a^ v C ^ S ^UJ§U O UCQ.5^ M a QQ Illl 1 llll ^ fo S S ^H sjEl^Lf ^C rHC^rOrh 10 COt^OOOS THE OSPREY 175 Family PANDIONIDAE. Ospreys. Genus Pandion Savigny. 22. PANDION HALIAETUS CAROLINENSIS (Gmelin). 364. Osprey. Fish Hawk. Fishing Eagle. Field Characters. — A large Hawk, blackish above, and pure white below. Feet very large. Usually seen flying over water in search of fish which are captured with the talons. Description.— Above dusky or brownish black, whitening on the head. Tail crossed by six or eight dusky bands. Below pure white with occasional brownish spots on the breast. Immature birds, more spotted on the breast and darker on the back than adults. Measurements. — Length, 21 to 24 inches; wing, 17 to 20 inches; tail, 7 to 10 inches. Range. — In general, throughout North America ; breeding in most of this territory. The Osprey feeds exclusively on fish, which are usually if not al- ways secured by plunging upon them from aloft in the air. Fish Hawks may be seen flying leisurely above lake or river, parrs- ing now and again on winnowing wings to scan the surface of the water for their prey. Fish which frequent the shallow water or swim near the surface are usually the victims, and in Iowa therefore the Carp constitutes no small part of the food of these birds. It has been stated by observers that for the most part the fish se- cured by Ospreys are those considered least desirable by man. Sometimes these birds are drowned through striking fish of such size that they are held beneath the surface, being unable to disengage their claws from the prospective prey. R. M. Anderson says, "The American Osprey or Fish Hawk ap- pears to be only a spring and fall migrant in Iowa, rather rare in general, but sometimes tolerably common along the larger water courses." In former years the writer saw it frequently in the vicinity of Cedar Rapids, along Cedar river and especially about "Cedar lake," a marshy slough wherein Sunfish and Carp abound. Once while he was hunting in this vicinity, a bird of this species flew directly over- head at no great height carrying headforemost a Carp about a foot 176 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA long. It seems to be the custom of these birds to select a favorite tree to which all food is carried, there to be devoured. The Osprey is not often found nesting in Iowa. George H. Berry collected a single addled egg from a nest in which were three young, May 16, 1892. This nest- was located thirty feet from the ground in a cottonwood tree which stood on the low land near Cedar river about five miles above Cedar Rapids, at a place known locally as Kelsey's Bend. This single egg has a ground color of buff heavily blotched every- where with warm chocolate brown, the confluent markings conceal- ing the ground color at the larger end of the egg. It measures 2.. 5 5 by 1.72 inches, and is a handsome specimen. Many observers have noted the mild disposition of the Osprey toward other birds, which it allows to nest not only in the same tree but even in the irregular cavities among the sticks which compose its own nest. Crackles seem to be especially favored in this respect. Since it is the habit of the Osprey to return year after year to the same site, in time its nest through the accumulation of years becomes very bulky. Fig. 12. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Osprey. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE OSPREY 177 Pandion haliaeetus carolinensis (Gmel.). *Say, Thomas, In Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, pp. 370, 377. (Engineers Cantonment, Pottawattamie County.) *Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur County.) *Mosher, A. A., The Fauna of Spirit Lake: Forest and Stream, Vol. 18, No. 4, p. 66, 1882. *G. D., H. E., and Morton Peck, in W. W. Cooke's Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull, 2, p. 120, 1888. (La Porte City.) *Preston, J. W., Ibid., pp. 120-121. (Newton.) Keyes, Chas. R., and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 128, 1888. (Des Moines.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 103, 1885. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 439, 1889. *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 290, 1891. *Sheldon, Frank W., In Camp at Twin Lakes: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 10, p. 157, 1891. *Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 320, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 204, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 130, 1893. *Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 8. *Audubon, M. R., and Coues, E., Audubon and his Journals, Vol. 1, p. 477, 1897. (Mills County.) *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 8, 1897. *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 18, 1897. (Mount Vernon.) Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 258, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 100, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, pp. 104-105, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 483, 1909. 12 178 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Sw.enk, . M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 53, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 168, 1910. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 307, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. fGabrielson, Ira N., Some Marshalltown, Iowa, Notes: Auk, XXI, p. 256, 1914. Fig. 73. — The Barn Owl. Suborder STRIDES. Owls. Family ALUCONIDAE. Barn Owls. Genus Aluco Fleming, 23. ALUCO PRATINCOLA (Bonaparte). 365. Barn Owl. Monkey-faced Owl. Field Characters. — A light yellowish buff colored owl, with pecu- liar triangular or monkey-faced visage; during the daytime usually found concealed in old mills or barns. THE BARN OWL 179 Description. — Above, gray and buff with small black and white spots. Tail square with about four dark bars. Below, silky whitish or tawny, with few or 'many small black spots. Eyes dark. Measurements. — Length, 16 to 19 inches; wing, 13 to 14 inches; tail, 5.50 to 7 inches. Range. — North America in general ; breeding from the Gulf north- ward to the northern tier of states in the United States. This peculiar owl is counted rare in Iowa because of its strictly nocturnal habits. Odd in its color, and in the shape of its "facial disc," with its dark eyes, and peculiar cry, it stands unique among our birds of prey. That it may be found in suitable localities anywhere in the state can scarcely be questioned since it has been recorded from Wisconsin and Minnesota, and taken at Osage, Mitchell county, at Dubuque, and at Sioux City. Mr. O. M. Greenwood sent the writer a male Barn Owl that had been taken near Manchester, June 20, 1912; and Au- gust 16, 1909, a female was secured near Cedar Rapids, While prob- ably less common in the northern part of the state, it is not unlikely that careful observation would increase our records. The nocturnal habits, and the relatively large number of eggs laid, together with the abundant food supply, suggests that this species ought to in- crease in any locality where it breeds. Professor Charles R. Keyes of Mount Vernon, some years ago found these birds nesting in an old stone mill near that place. They are also known to nest in hollow trees, in steeples, in barns and de- serted buildings, and even in holes in the ground. It has been re- ported that the Barn Owl has been seen to occupy excavations in the more or less vertical loess banks in the vicinity of Sioux City ; but up to the present, this fact, though entirely possible, has not been verified. No nesting material is used, the four to nine or ten oval white eggs being deposited on the accumulating litter of "owl pellets ;" or, if in a tree, on the rotton wood at the bottom of the cavity. The eggs measure about 1.75 by 1.25 inches. Observers are unanimous in placing this bird among those most beneficial, since mice and other small rodents form by far the major part of its bill of fare. It has been known to inhabit towers and other places frequented by pigeons, without molesting them. 180 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Fig. 74. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Barn Owl. STOMACH CONTENTS OF BARN OWLS 181 fc "a, "a, w a 1 1 a 00 : i :.2 i 1 !>§ a -< :^ : jg aj • ^ • ^ 9 i^l I s ;= a 3 3 PQ 1 CK, "-1 tj 6 LOCALITY i ^ ^ « £ £ 0^00 1— lOt— IHH | ^^cj^cj i 02 §§§i fefe&H^ JO **;*.+ 182 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Aluco pratincola (Bonaparte). *Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the 'Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Lindley, J. W., Mississippi Valley Migration: Ornithologist and Oologisi, Vol. 8, No. 5, p. 33, 1883. (Mitchell County.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 104, 1888. *Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Science, Vol. 5, p. 128, 1889. Ridgway, Robert, Ornithology of Illinois, p. 400, 1889. Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 292, 1891. Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 205, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 325, 1892. *Williams, John, In C. C. Nutting's Report of the Committee on State Fauna: Proc. of the la. Acad. of Sci., for 1892, Vol. 1, Part 3, p. 41, 1893. (Iowa City.) *Williams, John, Ibid., Reprint, p. 2. (Iowa City.) Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the United States, p. 132, 1893. *Bartsch, Paul, Note under Notes and News: Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 2, p. 49, 1896. (Burlington.) *Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 8. *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 18, 19, April, 1897. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 101, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci., St. Louis, p. 258, 1907. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 258, 1907. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 484, 1909. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 484, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 168, 1910. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 308, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. Ridgway, R., Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bulletin 50, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 605, 1914. Fenton, Carroll Lane, Preliminary List of the Birds of Floyd County. Iowa: Wilson Bulletin, XXVIII, pp. 130, 138, 1916. THE LONG - EARED OWL 183 Fig. 75. — The Long-eared Owl. Family STRIGIDAE. Horned Owls, Etc. Genus Asio Brisson. 24. ASIO WILSONIANUS (Lesson). 366. Long-eared Owl. Field Characters. — A medium sized, dark colored owl with very long ear tufts and yellow eyes. These owls are not often seen in the daytime even when they are fairly common. Description. — Above, blackish brown and white, mottled; tail barred six to eight times with black. Feathers about the eyes buffy and black-tipped. Below, buffy and white, streaked on breast, and barred on sides and belly with brownish black. Eyes yellow. Ear- tufts very long. Measurements. — Length, 14 to 16 inches; wing, 11 to 12 inches; tail, about 6 inches. Range. — Temperate North America, breeding throughout most of its range. 184 TftE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA This species is among the most nocturnal of our owls, and is found to keep rather strictly within the limits of the timber and brush-cov- ered lands, or the protection of the pine trees planted about our farm yards. In these respects, it is quite in contrast to its near relative, the Short-eared Owl. It is easily distinguished by its long, ear tufts and its medium size, being considerably larger than the Screech Owl, and very much smaller than the Great Horned Owl, both of which, like the Long Eared Owl, are possessed of ear tufts and yellow eyes. Its nocturnal habits cause it to be overlooked even in regions where it is fairly common. It is a very quiet bird, making little noise except the snapping of its bill when disturbed. It prefers trees with dense foliage, such as evergreens, or thickets of hawthorns. The nest is usually placed at no great distance from the ground, usually an old Crow's nest being used. The eggs are white, and measure about 1.60 by 1.30 inches. Mr. G. H. Berry secured a set of five eggs which were laid in an old Crow's nest in Wildcat Grove, seven miles north- east of Marion. Other nests have been reported from time to time. Dr. C. B. Cory states, "There is a set of five eggs in the Field Museum collection taken at Grinnell, Iowa, May 1, 1893." Capt. Charles Bendire says, "Mr. J. W. Preston of Baxter, Iowa, writes me that one of their notes resembles "me-ow-ow-ow-ow" of a cat. Another is a subdued "hoo-hoo" or "oo-oo," often uttered for hours during the mating time. At a distance this sounds something like the lowing of a cow." He further states, "At the nest, when dis- turbed, the female ruflfles her feathers, flies to the ground, curves her wings over her head, spreads her tails and feigns lameness, dragging herself along on the leaves, all the time snapping her mandibles, mak- ing a rapping noise as if two sticks were struck together. She will, at such times, also mew like a cat ; if followed, she makes her way in a direction opposite to the nest. While this performance progresses the male is, perhaps, giving vent to his feelings by fluttering about and squealing like a half-grown rat in a trap, or muttering a mournful "hoo-maa-maa-voo" in a subdued tone. I have often mistaken the notes of this bird for those of human beings. On April 3, 1886, I took a fresh laid egg of the Long--eared Owl from a nest of Crow's eggs, and the parent of the latter did not seem to mind the intrusion." Since the food of these birds consists almost entirely of small in- jurious rodents, the Long-eared Owl is to be counted among the most beneficial of our birds of prey. Mr. Ira N. Gabrielson, at present connected with the United States Department of Agriculture, has kindly sent me the report on FOOD OF THE LONG - EARED OWL 185 the examination of some 225 pellets of the Long-eared Owl which were examined by Dr. Alexander Wetmore. The pellets were col- Icted at Marshalltown, April 3, 1913, and give a very accurate and interesting idea of the menu of these valuable owls. The following is the list as reported : Song Sparrow, 4 ; Robin, 1 ; Little Shrew, 2 ; Short-tailed Shrew, 5 ; House Mouse, 3 ; Northern White-footed Mouse, 89; Meadow Mouse, 70; Prairie Meadow Mouse, 18. This shows a total of 187 small mammals, as against five birds, these mam- mals being some of the most annoying pests we have in the state. Fig. 76. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Long-eared Owl. 186 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA ! § ; ; * 8 : : iiiji T3 : : O) : : 3 : : "3 : : : : o i i : i'5 S ; ; s I \ Oj : : j i : S t3 : : CC (N Ttj ^H^^l co" oo > > .coooo , TH i— i O5 O5 bbbb ooo o o 1 I' £ 51 02 — 1—4 ^— i 3 ' : * « « '* O5 Oi BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE LONG -EARED OWL 187 Asio wilsonianus (Lesson). *Say, Thomas, In Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburg to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. *Williams, H. S., M. D., Season and Birds of the Prairie: Forest and Stream, Vol. 22, No. 21, p. 403, 1884. (Charles City.) * Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur and Mahaska Counties.) *Beal, F. E. L., Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley from Observations Collected by W. W. Cooke: Forest and Stream, Vol. 19, No. 16, p. 306. (Ames.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 106, 1888. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 405, 1889. *Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. *Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Acad. of Nat. Sci., Vol. 5, p. 128, 1889. (Charles City.) E. S. P., The American Long Eared Owl: American Osprey, Vol. 1, No. 6, 1890. (Des Moines.) Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 294, 1891. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 294, 1892. *Preston, J. W., in Bendire's Life Histories of North American Birds, Vol. 1, p. 328, 1892. (Baxter.) *Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalog of the Animals of Iowa Represented in the Collection of the Departments of Zoology and Entomology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 328, 1893. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., pp. 140, 144, 145, 1893. *Anderson, R. M., Owl Notes: The Nidologist, Vol. 2, No. 6, p. 79, Feb., 1895. *Orr, Ellison, The Finding of Owl Nests: The Oologist, Vol. 13, No. 3, p. 17, 1896. (Postville.) *Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 8. *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 7, 1897. *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 19, April, 1897. 188 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA *Keyes, Charles Reuben, Notes and News: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 24, April, 1897. *Hill, Thos. S., Where Are My Long Eared Owls?: Oologist, Vol. 14, No. 10, p. 96, 1897. (Knoxville.) Wilson, B. H., The Wilson Bulletin, p. 3, 1906. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis, pp. 105, 106, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 102, 1907. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 259, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 486, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 55, 1909. A. O. U. Check-Lists, p. 169, 1910. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 310, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 147, 1913. fTinker, A. D., Notes on the Ornithology of Clay and Palo Alto Counties, Iowa: Auk, XXXI, pp. 70, 81, 1914. Ridgway, R., Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bulletin 50, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 654, 1914. fFenton, Carroll Lane, Preliminary List of the Birds of Floyd County, Iowa: Wilson Bulletin, XXVIII, pp. 120, 128, 1916. THE SHORT -EARED OWL 189 Fig. 77. — The Short-eared Owl. 25. ASIO FLAMMEUS (Pontoppidan). 367. Short-eared Owl. Marsh Owl. Prairie Owl. Field Characters. — A medium sized, yellowish buff or tawny owl, with darker stripes ; inhabiting the long grass of marshes and prairies and hunting by day as well as at dusk. Description. — Above, having dusky, buff-edged feathers ; tail with buff and dusky bands. Below, pale buff or whitish with dark brown streaks, heavier on the breast. Blackish immediately about the eyes. Eyes yellow. Ear-tufts scarcely noticeable. Measurements. — Length, 14 to 16 inches; wing, 12 to 13 inches; tail, about 6 inches. Range. — North America in general, breeding from Colorado, Mis- souri and Illinois, northward. Found both summer and winter in Iowa. 190 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA The Short-eared Owl or Marsh Owl, as it is sometimes called, is quite distinctly a bird of the open prairies and marshes, in which respect it is to be compared with the Marsh Hawk. It is one of the most diurnal of our owls ; and especially in early dusk and on cloudy days, is found searching the long grass of fields and meadows for mice, shrews and other small mammals, as well as for insects, upon which it feeds. It is frequently startled from its place of concealment by the hunter, and is usually shot down regardless of its economic value. Late in the fall it may be found in considerable numbers, and appar- ently at these seasons congregates where food is plentiful, and where the protecting slough grass affords sufficient cover. The nest, which is placed on the ground, is composed of grasses and a few of the bird's own feathers. The eggs are white, measur- ing about 1.60 by 1.25 inches, and number from four to seven in a clutch. A nest of this species was found near Swan lake in Emmett county by Rev. A. G. Bailey. The nest was in a slight depression in the prairie, and was composed of grasses. R. M. Anderson mentions a set of six eggs which were collected by Mr. M. E. Halvorsen, May 16, 1896, near Forest City. "The nest was on the ground in a nearly dried marsh, placed between two big clumps of earth ; composed of a few blades of grass and some feathers." A nest of the Short-eared Owl which contained five eggs was discovered by Mr. Charles Camel, May 15, 1889. The nest was on the ground in a marsh near Pap- poose creek, southeast of Cedar Rapids. The bird was shot, and the set of eggs is now in the Coe College Museum, having been preserved by Mr. G. H. Berry. The stomachs of a pair of Short-eared Owls from Story county, examined by Prof. F. E. L. Beal, contained mice only, though "they were shot in an artificial grove swarming with small birds." A. K. Fisher reports a specimen examined from Hancock county, July 15, 1889, which contained two meadow mice and two shrews; also two specimens from Keokuk, the first of which, November 8. 1885, con- tained a grackle, and the second, January 1, 1890, a mouse. One is often surprised, when handling the first bird of this species, to dis- cover the remarkable extent of the external ear. The radiating feathers about the eyes in these, as in other owls, cover the auditory apparatus, and in this species conceal a skin-lined cavity extend- ing about half way around each eye. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SHORT - EARED OWL 191 Fig. 78. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Short-eared Owl. 192 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA ^^ "T3 O 1 S'S g OQ u, CO «M (N « s 8 a "§• : OS c - = CO CD ^£ r-HrH' LOC 00 jj •: S-31 •3-3 B S -36 8 i-3 ^§£(2 ^fe £ ;S 1-1 C^ CO Tt< »C CD l> OO OS O T-I - 00 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SHORT - EARED OWL 193 Asio flammeus (Pontoppidan). *Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Parker, H. W., Iowa Birds: The American Naturalist, Vol. 5, p. 169,. 1871. (Poweshiek and Jasper Counties.) *Beal, F. E. L., Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley from Obser- vations collated by W. W. Cooke: Forest and Stream, Vol. 19, No. 16, p. 306, 1882. (Ames.) * Williams, Mrs. V. S., Mississippi Valley Migration: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 5, p. 33, 1883. (Coralville.) *Lindley, J. W., Ibid., p. 33. (Mitchell.) * Jones, Lynds, The Number of Eggs in a Set: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 12, No. 10, p. 168, 1887. (Grinnell.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, 1888. *Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds Found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa, The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 407, 1889. *Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Acad. of Nat. Sci., Vol. 5, p. 129, 1889. *Crone, J. V., Summer Residents of Buena Vista County, Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 7, No. 3, p. 46, 1890. *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 296, 1891. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 208, 1892. *Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 332, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the United States, pp. 145, 149, 1893. *Anderson, R. M., Owl Notes: The Nidologist, Vol. 2, 'No. 6, p. 79, Feb- ruary, 1895. *Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, p. 8, July, 1896. *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa: p. 8, 1897. *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 19, April, 1897. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci., St. Louis, pp. 106, 107, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 102, 1907. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 260, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 488, 1909. 13 194 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., ,Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 55, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 169, 1910. Chapman, P. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 310, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 148, 1913. Ridgway, R., Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bulletin 50, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 661, 1914. fTinker, A. D., Notes on the Ornithology of Clay and Palo Alto Counties, Iowa: Auk. XXXI, pp. 70, 81, 1914. fFenton, Carroll Lane, Preliminary List of the Birds of Floyd County, Iowa, Wilson Bulletin, XXVIII, pp. 120, 138, 1916. Fig. 79. — The Barred Owl. Genus Strix Linnaeus. 26. STRIX VARIA VARIA (Barton). 368. Barred Owl. Hoot Owl. Field Characters. — A large, grayish brown, dark eyed owl, without horns ; with loud hooting notes. It frequents timber, especially along river bottoms ; nesting in hollow trees. THE BARRED OWL 195 Description. — Above, dark buffy brown and whitish, barred with brown across each feather. Below, with the same barring on the upper breast, but streaked on lower breast and belly. Eyes dark col- ored. No ear-tufts. Measurements. — Length, 20 to 22 inches; wing, 13 to 14 inches; tail, 9 to 10 inches. Range. — Eastern North America generally ; breeding in the United States chiefly, from our northernvborder to Georgia, and west to Kansas and Colorado. The Barred Owl is a common species throughout the state where- ever groves of sufficient size, especially the wooded bottom lands of streams or the margins of lakes and sloughs, afford adequate cover. It seems particularly partial to timber near the water ; and therefore is found in greatest abundance along the flood plains, and on the islands of the Mississippi, Missouri and the larger inland streams of the state. While it hunts mostly at night, it is not averse to being abroad dur- ing" the darker days. Its call is similar in pitch to that of the Great Horned Owl, but is differently spaced, and may be represented by who — who — who- ivho-aa. Not infrequently at the close of the call there may be heard a chuckle or laugh. The cries of these birds when heard just outside the tent on a dark night are quite alarming to the timid. The abundance of these birds is indicated by the fact that the writer has rarely been in a well timbered part of the state where their cries have not been heard in the twilight, dusk or early dawn. While they are moving about on cloudy days, and sometimes when they are discovered in their places of concealment on bright days, they are unmercifully mobbed by bands of Crows and Blue Jays. The nesting season is usually in March ; and a hollow tree is com- monly selected as a nesting site, though some observers have found them occupying open nests. They are strongly attached to their homes, once chosen ; and a second setting of eggs will usually be laid in case the first is removed. On April 4, 1896, Mr. G. H. Berry se- cured a set of three eggs from a Barred Owl's nest which had yielded me a set about three weeks before. The eggs are subspherical, white, and measure about 2.00 by 1.60 inches. The food of these birds consists very largely of small mammals. Birds of several species, insects, fish and especially cray fish and- 196 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA frogs seem to be prized as food. Though poultry is sometimes taken, the record of stomach contents in a large number of cases shows that these owls are decidedly beneficial from an economic standpoint, and should be protected in the interests of the farmer. Fig. 80. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Barred Owl. STOMACH CONTENTS OF BARRED OWLS 197 • If 1 1 -3 2 S & d •P'S£-§^ Hi i] O PC 8 a j— t S o CQ 02 go-gjj ° CoS . 5 : O CC bC O ^ i a ; 3S ib^^ t2§g ^^ g g^o^Ss^?? 4 j d) 03 0) : 0) : : 03 OJ X 05 O r-«M CO W i ;-§ IIIIl S S 1 C^ CO T^ »O CO BIBLIOGRAPHY OP THE SAW - WHET OWL 207 Cryptoglaux acadica acadica (Gmelin). *Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 371. (Engineers Canton- ment.) *Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. (N. albifrons Cassin.) Allen, J. A., Ibid., p. 424. (N. acadica Bonap.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 112, 1888. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 413, 1889. *Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 129, 1889. *Bryan, Willie A., Saw- whet or Acadian Owls: The Oologist, Vol. 7, No. 8, p. 177, 1890. (New Sharon.) *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 300, 1891. *Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 213, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 350, 1892. *Decker, E. G., In C. C. Nutting's Report of the Committee on State Fauna: Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Sciences for 1892, Vol. 1, Part 3, p. 41, 1893. (Davenport.) *Decker, E. G., Ibid., Reprint, p. 2. (Davenport.) Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 160, 1893. * Anderson, R. M., The Saw- whet Owl in Captivity: The Iowa Ornitho- logist, Vol. 1, p. 26, October, 1894. (Forest City.) *Bartsch, Paul, The Saw-whet Owl: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 52, January, 1895. (Johnson County, Iowa City.) *Law, J. Eugene, The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 52, January, 1895. (Perry.) *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 8, 1897. Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 19, April, 1897. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, pp. 108, 109, 1907. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 105, 1907. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 262, 1907. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 55, 1909. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 493, 1909. 208 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA A. O. U. Check-List, p. 172, 1910. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 313, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 148, 1913. Ridgway, R., Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bulletin 50, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 627, 1914. Fig. 85. — Screech Owls Genus Otus Pennant. 29. OTUSASIOASIO(Unii3ieus). 373. Screech Owl. Little Hoot Owl. Red Owl. Gray Owl. Field Characters. — The smallest of our Iowa owls with ear tufts. Either red or gray in plumage. Common about farmyards and even in towns. It utters a tremulous, gurgling cry. Description. — Above, reddish or grayish with black streaks. Be- low, white with reddish barrings in the red phase, and streaked and barred with black and some rufous in the gray phase. Eyes yellow. Ear tufts about an inch long. Young birds are barred with grayish or reddish and white. THE SCREECH OWL 209 Measurements. — Length, 8 to 10 inches ; wing, 6 to 7 inches ; tail, 3 to 3.50 inches. Range. — Eastern North America from Minnesota, Ontario and New Brunswick south to northeastern Texas and Georgia, and west to about the 100th meridian, accidental in England. (A. O. U. Check- list, 1910.) Without doubt the little Screech Owl is the best known of its kind in Iowa. Its habit of frequenting not only the vicinity of country dwellings, but also of coming into the suburbs and even at times into the very centers of our larger cities, has enabled those unacquainted with other owls to become familiar with this species. Its tremulous notes, heard most often at dusk and in the early morning, and the noisy mobbing of the Screech Owl by the Blue Jays, often attract the attention of the passerby. On such occasions care- ful search reveals the little red or gray owl with ear tufts standing erect and feathers close drawn to the body, altogether an inconspicu- ous object indeed. But when the sun has set and the shadows lengthen, the Screech Owls with their young fly fearlessly, and with feathers fluffed, sit on the branches unafraid. % The two color phases of plumage, red and gray, found in this species cannot be accounted for by either the age of the bird, the sex, or the changing of feathers with the season of the year. Red birds mate with gray birds and their broods will be part red and part gray. In a family of six young taken May 21, 1915, the female parent be- ing red and the male gray, there are five which show the red phase, while one is distinctly gray. Of twenty-five specimens of this owl in the Coe College Museum, collected chiefly in the eastern part of the state, fifteen are in the red phase and ten in the gray. My observa- tion of birds noted, but not collected, leads me to believe that this rep- resents approximately the relative proportion of the two color phases in this region. These hardy little birds are able to accommodate themselves to almost any cavity ; preferring, however, the abandoned nests of the Flicker or Yellow-hammer. Old apple orchards and groves of maple, poplar and other soft woods are favorite resorts. The eggs are deposited usually during the first half of April, and are from four to six in number, white, and measure about 1.50 by 1.25 inches. Frequently the female will not leave the nest until actually lifted from the eggs ; and in the daytime when discovered in the en- trance of their homes, they usually retreat into the cavity, whereupon it is sometimes possible to capture both parents by reaching into the hole and drawing them out. 14 210 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA When the young are able to take short flights, the old birds not in- frequently dash at the passerby who approaches too near the young ; usually, however, contenting themselves with a clacking of the bill and a demonstration intended to frighten away the intruder. As pets these owls are docile and interesting. The food consists very largely of mice ; although sometimes small birds are taken, especially the English Sparrow and Blue Jay. All observers unite in pronouncing the Screech Owl one of the most beneficial of our birds. They may be encouraged to nest near dwellings by providing suitable nesting cavities, which they are not loath to occupy. Fig.. 86. — Map showing- the distribution in Iowa of the Screech Owl. STOMACH CONTENTS OF SCREECH OWLS 211 aaaj* isssS i'l 2 : S « ill : "c ~C i'o'o o JL LOC o " ' ii i mi !i 212 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Otus asio (Linnaeus). * Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Canton- ment, Pottawattamie County.) *Allen, J. A., Notes on the Birds Observed in Western Iowa in the months of July, August and September: Memoir of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 1, p. 499, 1868. * Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 242, 1872. (Decatur and Mahaska Counties.) *Beal, F. E. L., Bird Migration of the Mississippi Valley from Notes Collated by W. W. Cooke: Forest and Stream, Vol. 19, p. 306, No. 16, 1882. (Ames.) *Jones, Lynds, Ibid., p. 306. (Grinnell.) *Williams, Mrs. V. S., Mississippi Valley Migration: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 5, p. 33, 1883. (Coralville.) * Jones, Lynds, The Number of Eggs in a Set: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 7, No. 10, p. 188, 1887. (Grinnell.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 114, 1888. *Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 415, 1889. *Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 130, 1889. *White, H. G., Geographical Variation of Eggs: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 2, 3, 1890. *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. *Sheldon, Frank W., In Camp at Twin Lakes: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 10, pp. 155, 157, 1891. *Henning, C. F., An Afternoon Ramble: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 12, p. 180, 1891. (Gilbert Station, near Ames.) Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 302, 1891. *Jones, Lynds, in Bendire's Life Histories of North American Birds, Vol. 1, pp. 356, 357, 1892. (Grinnell.) *Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 214, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 163, 1893. *Andereon, R. M., Owl Notes: The Nidologist, Vol. 2, No. 6, p. 79, Feb- ruary, 1895. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SCREECH OWL 213 * Shoemaker, F. H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, July, 1896, p. 8. *Orr, Ellison. The Finding of Owls' Nests: The Oologist, Vol. 13, No. 3, p. 17, 1896. (Postville.) *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 8, 1897. *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 19, April, 1897. *Wilson, B. H., One Small Piece of Ground: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 47, October, 1897. *Bartsch, Paul, Summer Birds of the Oneota Valley (June, July, 1896) : The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 55, 56, October. 1897. (Winneshiek and Allamakee Counties.) *Savage, David L., Birds of the Midland Region: The Midland Monthly, Vol. 8, p. 462, 1897. (Southern Iowa.) *Savage, David L., Ibid., p. 528. (Southern Iowa.) Wilson, B. H., The Wilson Bulletin, p. 4, 1906. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Woodruff, F. M . Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 105, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci., St. Louis, p. 109, 1907. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, pp. 262, 263, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 494, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 55, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 172, 1910. fSherman, Althea B., Nest Life of the Screech Owl, Auk, XXVIII, pp. 155, 168, 1911. jPellett, Frank C., Friends and Foes of the Fruit Grower: Sixth Annual Report of Missouri State Board of Agriculture, pp. 113, 127, 1912. (Illus.) Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 313, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 148, 1913. Ridgway, R., Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bulletin 50, U. S. Nat. Museum, p. 690, 1914. Fenton, Carroll Lane, Birds of Floyd County, Iowa: The Wilson Bulletin, No. 96, p. 138, September, 1916. 214 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Fig-. 87. — The Great Horned Owl. Trapping Hawks or Owls is more certain to get the real rascal that is devastating the roost than to shoot every Hawk or Owl that comes about the yard. Genus Bubo Dumeril. 30. BUBO VIRGINIANUS VIRGINIANUS (Gmelin). 375. Great Horned Owl. Hoot Owl. Cat Owl. Big Horned Owl. Field Characters. — Largest of our owls with "horns" or "ear- tufts." General color dark. Eyes large and yellow. Found usually in heavy timber. Nests either in an open nest like a hawk or in a hollow tree. Description. — Above, mottled with whitish, ochraceous buff, and dusky. The spread tail shows many dark bars. Feathers about the eyes ochraceous buff, black tipped. Ear tufts mostly black. Below, THE GREAT HORNED OWL 215 showing a conspicuous white throat patch ; the rest of the under parts barred with ochraceous buff and black. Feet buffy with some dusky barring. Eyes yellow. Sexes alike. Downy young, white. Measurements. — Length, 21 to 24 inches; wing, 15 to 16 inches; tail, 8.25 to 9 inches. Range. — In the United States from the British possessions to the Gulf, and westward as far as eastern Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Texas. The Great Horned Owl, Big Hoot Owl, or Cat Owl, as it is vari- ously called, is a common resident throughout Iowa. Its size, con- spicuous ear tufts and large yellow eyes, serve as a sufficient means of identification. While the lighter colored varieties of this species are often difficult to distinguish, the points given above will serve most purposes. It is found usually in well timbered regions and frequenting the older groves and bottom lands of our Iowa rivers, but occasionally may be found in more open districts, and the writer once followed and finally secured one that was flying from one willow hedge to an- other across the open fields in broad daylight. Its keen eyesight, acute hearing and the power of its talons, com- bined with almost noiseless flight and the fact that it has the instincts of the marauder, makes this species one of the most destructive of all our birds of prey. Its cry resembles whoo — who, who, who, who-whoo — whoo, hav- ing about the same pitch, but differing in the spacing of the call from that of the Barred Owl. In the breeding season the "hooting** may be heard in the timber where the birds are nesting, though sometimes it is so low that one can not hear the call from any great distance. The writer has brought them within gunshot by imitating their cry, while he was carefully concealed. Only once has the writer heard the scream as described by F. M. Chapman in his Birds of Eastern North America. He says, "A much rarer call is a loud, piercing scream, one of the most blood-curdling sounds I have ever heard in the woods." While following a Great Horned Owl in Wildcat Grove, Linn county, on a somewhat foggy morning when the woods were damp and quiet, this startling scream was given by a bird a short dis- tance away. It came so unexpectedly that for a moment the writer could hardly credit the Owl with such a volume of hair-raising sound. These Owls are frequently mobbed by Crows and Jays who gather in large numbers, but usually keep at a respectful distance until the 216 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Owl starts to fly, whereupon he is subjected to a series of overhead attacks until another perch has been reached. The hardiness of these birds is best shown by their early nesting habits. Usually in February and even in latter January the eggs are deposited either in an open nest or in the hollow cavity of a tree. Cap- tain Bendire says, "Mr. Lynds Jones, of Grinnell, Iowa, informs me : 'I once had the good fortune to steal unnoticed upon a pair of these birds in their love making. The ceremony had evidently been in progress some time. When discovered the male was carefully ap- proaching the female, which stood on a branch, and she half turned away like a timid girl. He then fondly stroked his mate with his bill, bowed solemnly, touched or rubbed her bill with his, bowed again, sidled into a new position from time to time, and continued his ca- resses. All these attentions were apparently bashfully received by the female. Soon thereafter the pair flew slowly away side by side.' ' The above description of the courting habits of the Great Horned Owl agrees with the observations of Professor Charles R. Keyes of Mount Vernon, who says, "suddenly the hooting of big owls boomed out from a near-by linden of the timber pasture, and there, sure enough, were both birds engaged in ardent courtship and not mind- ing our presence in the least. They stood facing each other on the same branch and, with feathers ruffled and heads bobbing, were hoot- ing in low tones as they side-stepped toward one another and greeted one another with low bows. Finally they flew away, side by side, into the timber tract." Mrs. Owl in the latter account seemed -to be somewhat less shy and bashful. The nesting habits of the Great Horned Owl have nowhere been more completely recorded than by Professor Keyes in the Smith- sonian Report for 1911, pages 395 to 405. The nest here described was in a hollow elm tree only twenty-two feet from the ground. Mr. Keyes remarks that "at the very moment when this nest was discov- ered a second pair of these birds was domiciled in a Red-tail's nest placed in a tall white elm in heavy timber three and one-half miles to the northwest and just ninety-two feet above ground." Mr. F. J. Lazell of Cedar Rapids has found them nesting in Bever Park, within the city limits, both in an open nest and in a cav- ity in a tree. It has also been reported that a pair nested in a cavity in the limestone cliffs at the Palisades in southeastern Linn county. The eggs are from two to four, white, sub-spherical, somewhat granular on the surface, and measure about 2.25 by 1.75 inches. FOOD OF THE GREAT HORNED OWL 217 In May and early June the young leave the nest and may then be found perched in the tops of the trees, from which they may be shaken down and captured. As captives they are interesting but not docile. The amount and the variety of food found in and about the nests ~f Great Horned Owls well indicate their ability as hunters, and their omnivorous propensities. On April 21, 1906, Professor Keyes found in a nest containing two young Horned Owls, half a Coot and half a mature Rabbit, to- gether with four young Rabbits. On April 26, the same nest held the hinder parts of an adult Rabbit, a striped Gopher and a headless Bobwhite, also some Flicker feathers. On the 28th a Rabbit was found in the nest with the young birds, and at a later date a Rabbit and a Brown Rat were noted. On March 16, 1907, the nest con- tained besides the three young Owls, the remains of four adult Cot- ton-tail Rabbits, two Bobwhites and a Field Mouse. Domestic Pigeons and a King Rail were also listed as occurring among the food rem- nants. In 1909 a farmer near Norway brought in a Great Horned Owl that had been captured in a steel trap set on a post near his chicken yard. Mr. C. D. Kirkpatrick discovered a nest of these birds April 12, 1911, about a mile and a quarter north of the Coe College Campus and within the city limits of Cedar Rapids. This contained, besides the two well feathered young about ready to leave the nest, the re- mains of a Flicker, a Striped Gopher, a good sized Carp, and the foot of a Cotton-tail Rabbit, while beneath the nest were found the head- less remains of a Grebe, another Carp, the hindquarters of a Rabbit, and some feathers of a Robin as well as a mass of "owl pellets." The catching of such fish as the Carp is to be explained in this case, I be- lieve, by the fact that the nest was located not far from a slough in the shallow waters of which Carp feed in numbers, often, as I have observed, with a considerable part of their backs exposed. These fish might easily be secured by an owl at such times without even wetting its feet. » Many writers speak of the noticeable odor of the Skunk about the nests and on the plumage of the Great Horned Owls. I believe that both the large Skunks and the spotted Skunks or Civets as they are commonly called, enter into the dietary list of these vigorous birds. One which was shot near Traer in 1902, had evidently not a great while before met with a most active member of the mephitic group. 218 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Mr. R. M. Anderson mentions finding on May 2, 1896, the hind quarters of a large Rat and of a Pocket Gopher in a nest containing a young bird whose eyes were not yet open, and also notes a record by Mr. W. G. Savage of a nest near Hillsboro, Van Buren county, which contained thirty-eight field mice and one quail. The variety of their diet, their exceptional ability in capturing their prey, and their cunning in eluding their foes, lead me to believe that they will long survive even in well settled parts of the state, though the very characteristics which make for their successful adaptation to their changing environment will not permit them to exist in any considerable numbers in a given area. It is doubtless well for the farmer that they should not be numerous, for poultry has been dem- onstrated to enter largely into their menu, and they have been known to kill far more at a time than they are capable of devouring at a meal. Fig. 88. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Great Horned Owl. STOMACH CONTENTS OF GREAT HORNED OWLS 3 *|| ,= •si I III jn JT: E£ — . - -c 220 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OP IOWA Bubo virginianus virginianus (Gmelin). *Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 370. (Engineers Canton- ment. Pottawattamie County.) *Allen, J. A., Notes on the Birds observed in Western Iowa in the months of July, August and September: Memoir of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 1, p. 499, 1868. * Allen, J. A;, Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. Parker, H. W., Iowa Birds: The American Naturalist, Vol. V, p. 170, 1871. (Poweshiek and Jasper Counties.) *Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 232, 1872. (Decatur and Mahaska Counties.) *Beal, F. E. L., Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, from Notes Collated by W. W. Cooke: Forest and Stream, Vol. 19, No. 16, p. 306, 1882. (Ames.) *Jones, Lynds, Ibid., p. 306. (Grinnell.) 'Williams, Mrs. V. S., Mississippi Valley Migration: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 5, p. 33, 1883. (Coralville.') *Wild, Doc., An Iowa Bird Hunt: Forest and Stream, Vol. 21, No. 25, p. 498, 1883. (Rippey.) *Keyes, Charles Rollin, Great Horned Owl in Iowa: Ornithologist and Oolo- gist, Vol. 9, No. 2, p. 17, 1884. (Des Moines.) •Joy, James C., Under Correspondence: The Oologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 27, 1886. (Des Moines.) *Joy, James C., Great Horned Owl Eggs: The Hoosier Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 112, 1886. (Des Moines.) *Joy, James C., Under Oology: The Hoosier Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 59. (Des Moines.) *Keyes, Charles Rollin, Nesting of Bubo Virginianus: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 13, No. 6, p. 93, 1888. (Des Moines.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 116, 1888. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 418, 1889. *Jones, Lynds, A List of Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, No. 6, Vol. 1, p. 52, March, 1889. *Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 130, 1889. (Des Moines.) *F. C., (Notes), Gleanings from our Correspondents: The Oologist, Vol. 6, No. 7, p. 185, 1889. (Grinnell.) *Balliett, Letson, In Our Monthly Mixture: The Oologist, Vol. 7, No. 6, p. 113, 1890. (Des Moines.) BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT HORNED OWL 221 *Kelsey, Carl, The Effect of Winter upon the Arrival and Nesting of the Birds of Grinnell, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 10, 11, 1891. *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 304, 1891. *Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, Vol. 1, pp. 376, 383, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 215, 1892. "Helming, C. F., My First Set of 'Great Horned Owl Eggs: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 17, No. 5, p. 74, 1892. (Boone.) *Coues, E., History of Lewis and Clarke Expedition, Vol. 3, p. 1298, 1893. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 174, 1893. *Nutting, C. C., Report of the Committee on State Fauna: Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Sciences for 1892, Vol. 1, Part 3, p. 41, 1893. (Iowa City.) *Nutting, C. C., Ibid., Reprint, p. 2. (Iowa City.) *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The Great Horned Owl in Iowa: The Oologist, Vol. 10, No. 3, p. 87, 1893. (Mount Vernon.) * Anderson, R. M., Owl Notes: The Nidologist, Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 79, 80, Feb- ruary, 1895. *Irons, Ernest, Our Society Association: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 53, April, 1895. * Shoemaker, Frank H.f A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, Iowa, p. 8, Jury, 1896. *0rr, Ellison, The Finding of Owls' Nests: The Oologist, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 17, 19, 1896. (Postville.) *Herming, C. F., The Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis) : Iowa Ornithol- ogist, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 67, 1896. (Boone.) *Henning, C. F., Under the Rambler Matured: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 74, 1896. *Anderson, R. M., Under Notes and News: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 86, 1896. (Winnebago County.) *Anderson, R. M., Birds of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 8, 1897. *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The Iowa Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 20, April, 1897. *Anderson, R. M., Nesting Habits of Krider's Hawk: The Iowa Ornithol- ogist, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 32, 33, July, 1897. (Hancock County.) *Wilson, B. H., One Small Piece of Ground: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 48, October, 1897. *Bartsch, Paul, Summer Birds of the Oneota Valley (June, July, 1895): The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 55, October, 1897. (Winne- shiek and Allamakee Counties.) *Savage, W. G., Contents of an Owl's Nest: The Osprey, Vol. 1, No. 10, p. 136, 1897. (Hillsboro.) 222 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA •Savage, David L., Birds of the Midland Region: The Midland Monthly, Vol. 7, p. 491, 1897. (Southern Iowa.) Wilson, B. H., Wilson Bulletin, 1906, p. 4. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci,, St. Louis, pp. 110, 112, 1907. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 263, 1907. Woodruff, P. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 106, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 495, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 56, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 175, 1910. tKeyes, Charles Reuben, A History of Certain Great Horned Owls: Con- dor, XIII, pp. 5-19, 1911. Keyes, Charles Reuben, Reprint in Smithsonian Report for 1911, pp. 395- 405. Chapman, P. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 315, 1912. tSherrnan, Althea R., Diurnal Activities of the Great Horned Owl: Auk, XXIX, p. 240, 1912. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 148, 1913. Ridgway, R., Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bulletin 50, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 739, 1914. Fenton, Carroll Lane, The Wilson Bulletin, No. 96, p. 138, September, 1916. (Floyd County.) THE SNOWY OWL 22: Fig-. 89. — The Snowy Owl. Genus Nyctea Stephens. 31. NYCTEA NYCTEA (Linnaeus). 376. Snowy Owl. White Owl. Field Characters. — Large, white, with yellow eyes and no ear- tufts. Seen usually after winter has well begun. Description. — White above and below, barred more or less with dusky markings ; female birds being more heavily marked as a rule. Feet and legs with long whitish hairlike feathers. Eyes yellow ; ear- tufts not markedly evident. Measurements. — Length, 22 to 26 inches ; wing, 16 to 18 inches ; tail, 9 to 10 inches. 22* THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Range. — Northern part of the Northern Hemisphere. In North America coming south in winter to Northern United States, and straggling south occasionally to the Bermuda Islands, North Caro- lina, Louisiana, Texas and California. I am inclined to believe that the Snowy Owl visits Iowa every winter, but that some years find it here in far greater numbers than do others. The continuously cold winters, especially farther north, favor their southward movements, and though reported almost every year, they seem fewer when the winter is mild. These beautiful owls vary greatly in the amount of dusky markings present on the otherwise immaculate feathers. Female birds are less white than males ; and so far as has been observed, very light male birds are rarely taken in the state. R. M. Anderson mentions a pure white specimen, now in the State University Museum, taken at Aurelia, January 18, 1885, and a nearly white one which he mounted February 18, 1895, secured at Buffalo Center. In conversation with those who have seen Snowy Owls in Iowa, I learn that they not infrequently sit on the tops of hay or straw stacks in the open field during the day-time watching for their prey; and that in the timber they are difficult to discover, especially when the wet snow is clinging to the trunks and larger branches of the trees. The bright sunlight seems .to be no serious hindrance to their hunt- ing. Several writers speak of their celerity on the wing, striking down their quarry with swiftness and skill. In the North the Hare and Ptarmigan comprise their chief food, Lemmings, Ducks and occasionally fish being also taken. In Iowa small mammals form the major part of the food, Rabbits and Mice predominating. The breeding range in America is north of latitude 53°. The num- ber of eggs in a set is said to vary from five to ten. They are depos- ited at intervals, so that when the last bird breaks the shell the oldest one is nearly ready to fly. (Fisher.) By this provision of nature the birds first hatched assist in maintaining an incubation tempera- ture for the benefit of the later arrivals. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SNOWY OWL 225 Fig-. 90. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Snowy Owl. 226 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA a a 6 6 9 ""05 02 ' GO ii : V : • • :"g ^ -r^ .sl o; w ^ 4) is 6-3-3 i-H (M CO rf »0 O t- BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SNOWY OWL 227 Nyctea nyctea (Linnaeus). *Allen, J. A., Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Geology of Iowa, White, Vol. 2, App. B, p. 424, 1870. *Trippe, T. M., Notes on the Birds of Southern Iowa: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 15, p. 233, 1872. (Decatur County.) *Beal, F. E. L., Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley from Obser- vations Collated by W. W. Cooke: Forest and Stream, Vol. 19, No. 16, p. 306, 1882. (Ames.) *Mosher, A. A., The Fauna of Spirit Lake: Forest and Stream, Vol. 18, No. 4, p. 66, 1882. *Schoolboy, Note: Forest and Stream, Vol. 21, No. 3, p. 46, 1883. (Storm Lake.) *Hancock, E. M . Mississippi Valley Migration: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 8, No. 5, p. 33, 1883. (Wanton.) *Lindley, J. W., Ibid., p. 33, (Mitchell.) *Williams, H. S., Seasons and Birds of the Prairie: Forest and Stream, Vol. 22, No. 21, p. 403, 1884. (Charles City.) *Lindley, J. W., In W. W. Cooke's Report on the Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1884-85: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bull. 2, p. 123, 1888. (Mitchell.) Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 118, 1888. *Jones, Lynds, A List of the Birds found in Eastern Jasper and Western Poweshiek Counties, Iowa: The Curlew, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 52, March, 1889. Ridgway, R., Ornithology of Illinois, p. 422, 1889. *Keyes, Charles Rollin, and Williams, H. S., M. D., Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Birds of Iowa: Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, p. 130, 1889. *Brezee, Fred J., Brief Notes: Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 15, No. 4, p. 62, 1890. (Iowa.) *Kelsey, Carl, Birds of Poweshiek County, Iowa: Ornithologist and Oolo- gist, Vol. 16, p. 132, 1891. Goss, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 307, 1891. •Osborn, Herbert, A Partial Catalogue of the Animals of Iowa Repre- sented in the Collections of the Departments of Zoology and Ento- mology of the Iowa Agricultural College, p. 7, 1892. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 217, 1892. Bendire, Capt. Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 389. 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 182, 1893. *Crone, J. V., Under Notes and News: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 2, No. 2, p. 50, 1896. (Marathon.) 'Shoemaker, Frank H., A Partial List of the Birds of Franklin County, iowa, July, 1896, p. 8. 228 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA * Anderson, R. M., Birds of Wiilnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, p. 9, 1897. (Buffalo Center.) *Keyes, Charles Reuben, The lowan Raptores: The Iowa Ornithologist, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 20, April, 1897. Bailey, B. H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Woodruff, F. M., Birds of the Chicago Area, p. 106, 1907. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 266, 1907. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci., St. Louis, pp. 112, 113, 1907. Cory, C. B., Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 497, 1909. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 56, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 176, 1910. Bunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 148, 1913. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 315, 1912. fTinker, A. D., Notes on the Ornithology of Clay and Palo Alto Counties, Iowa: Auk, XXXI, pp. 70-81, 1914. Ridgway, R., Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bull. 50, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 768, 1914. Fenton, Carroll Lane, Preliminary List of the Birds of Floyd County, Iowa: Wilson Bulletin, XXVIII, pp. 130, 138, 1916. Genus Surnia Dumeril. 32. SURNIA ULULA CAPAROCH (Muller). 377a. Hawk Owl. Field Characters. — A medium sized, hawklike, grayish brown owl, with long rounded tail ; to be seen hunting in the day-time. Description. — Above, grayish brown; head and neck spotted, and back barred with white; tail long, rounded, and indistinctly white- barred, the central feathers considerably longer than the lateral ones. Below, with dusky streaks on sides of neck and upper breast ; throat with dusky spot, the remainder of the under parts barred with red- dish brown. Feet and toes completely feathered. Measurements. — Length, 14.75 to 17 inches; wing, 8 to 9 inches; tail, 7. to 7.25 inches. Range. — Northern North America, breeding generally north of the United States. South in winter to Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, etc. THE HAWK OWL 229 This diurnal owl is of very rare occurrence in Iowa. R. M. An- derson says, "George H. Berry reports the Hawk Owl as a rare win- ter visitant in Linn county. He states that he has taken one specimen in Iowa, and also observed one in December, 1903, near Cedar Rap- ids, which he did not secure." It is spoken of as an owl with the feeding habits of a hawk and fully as capable of hunting by day. A peculiarity of its flight is its dropping from the perch to near the level of the ground or bushes, and on approaching another perch, ascending almost perpendicularly to it. It is spoken of as an unsuspicious bird, not at all shy, and ready to defend its nest. The nesting site is usually a cavity in a tree, in which no lining is placed. The eggs are three to seven in number and mea- sure about 1.50 by 1.23 inches. Dr. Elliot Coues in his "Birds of the Northwest" says, "It feeds chiefly upon field mice (Arvicolae) which swarm in the sphagnous vegetation of arctic lands; also upon small birds, grasshoppers and other insects." Fig. 91. — Map showing the distribution in Iowa of the Hawk O.vL 230 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA Surnia ulula caparoch (Muller). Say, Thomas, in Major S. H. Long's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mts., 1819-20, p. 371. (Engineers Canton- ment.) Coues, E., Birds of the Northwest, p. 312, 1874. Hatch, Dr. P. L., Birds of Minnesota, p. 219, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 187, 1893. Widmann, Otto, A Preliminary Catalogue of the Birds of Missouri: Trans. Acad. Sci., St. Louis, p. 113, 1907. Anderson, R. M., Birds of Iowa, p. 267, 1907. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 56, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 177, 1910. Chapman, F. M., Birds of Eastern North America, p. 316, 1912. Ridgway, R., Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bulletin 50, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 774, 1914. THE BURROWING OWL 231 Fig-. 92. — The Burrowing- Owl. Genus Speotyto Golger. 33. SPEOTYTO CUNICULARIA HYPOGJEA (Bonaparte). 378. Burrowing Owl. Ground Owl. Field Characters. — A small, rather long-legged owl brownish in color, with yellow eyes. Seen on the prairie, usually near a burrow or hole in the ground into which it retreats, and where its nest is made. Description. — Above, brown with whitish and buff spots, and with buffy barring on the flight feathers of the wings. Tail with about 232 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA four light buff bars. Below,. light buff marked with brown barrings. Under tail coverts unmarked. Measurements. — Length, 9 to 1 1 inches ; wing, 6 to 7 inches ; tail, about 3.50 inches. Range. — Western United States from the Pacific coast to Minne- sota and Louisiana, and from British Columbia and Manitoba south to Panama; migratory north of Oregon and northern Kansas; acci- dental in^New York and Massachusetts. (A. O. U. Checklist, 1910.) Though the Burrowing Owl has been found as an accidental strag- gler in New York and Massachusetts, western Iowa may be consid- ered the margin of its legitimate range eastward in this latitude. A bird of the prairie, living in holes excavated frequently by Badgers, Prairie Dogs, Gophers, Foxes and Coyotes, it finds its prey in the open and its cover in the ground. Those who have intimately studied its habits speak of its bowing and turning in ludicrous fashion. An interesting description of this is given in Goss' "History of the Birds of Kansas" as follows : "Their figure is peculiar; with their long legs and short tail the element of the grotesque is never wanting. It is hard to say whether they look most ludicrous as they stand stiffly erect and motionless, or when they suddenly turn tail to duck into the hole, or when engaged in their various antics. Bolt upright, on what may be imagined their rostrum, they gaze about with a bland and self-satisfied but earnest air, as if about to address an audience upon a subject of great pith and mo- ment. They suddenly bow low, with profound gravity, and, rising abruptly, they begin to twitch their faces and roll their eyes about in the. most mysterious manner, gesticulating wildly, every now and then bending forward till the breast almost touches the ground, to propound the argument with most telling effect ; then they face about to address the rear, that all may alike feel the force of their argu- ment ; they draw themselves up to the fullest height, outwardly calm and self contained, pausing in the discourse to note its effect upon the audience and collect their wits for the next rhetorical flourish. And no distant likeness between these frothy orators and others is found in the celerity with which they subside and seek their holes on the slightest intimation of danger." R. M. Anderson in his "Birds of Iowa" gives records for the fol- lowing counties: 1895, Dickinson (Salisbury); 1904, Kossuth (Bingaman) ; 1896, Lyon (Professor B. Shimek) ; 1902, Sioux .(Johnson); 1890, Linn (Berry); 1898, Woodbury (Bond, Rich, Trostler). On September 9, 1916, Mr. J. A. Spurrell of Wall Lake, HABITS OF THE BURROWING OWL 233 Sac county, told the writer that he had observed several Burrowing Owls at various times in that county, most of them being seen south- west of Wall Lake. One colony north of Lake View is on a gravel knoll, the birds of this colony being found April 14, 1916, apparently- digging a burrow, the hole being just large enough for the birds and not as large as a badger hole. The new earth looking as though it had been scratched out. Near this burrow Mr. Spurrell found a small Leopard Frog. Pellets found near burrows at various times contained "mostly wing coverts of various species of beetles, and in one the skull and fur of a meadow mouse was found." Mr. Spurrell has observed that the young come to the mouth of the burrow about the middle of July. The birds seem to be quite locally distributed, but fairly common in these localities. Mr. A. F. Allen, editor of the Sioux City Journal, reports obser- vations made by seven members of the Sioux City Bird Club on Sep- tember 20, 1914, who visited a colony of three pairs of Burrowing Owls about eight miles southeast of Sioux City, where these birds had reared their young that summer in holes dug probably by "coy- otes or other mammals" and on the "side of a hill — the northwest ex- posure." Mr. Allen says, "The owls migrate for the winter, and will leave, according to their habit, about the first week in October." Those who have examined the nests of these birds agree that they are very filthy, there usually being a litter of partly eaten and partly decayed food about the burrow, and the nest itself is almost i^yar- lably infested with fleas. As nesting material upon which the five to eight, and occasionally ten or eleven eggs are deposited, dried horse or cow dung is used, with a few grass stems, and occasionally other substances. The eggs measure about 1.22 by 1.04 inches; they are pure white, and subspherical in shape. 234 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA . 98. — Miip showing the distribution In Iowa of the Burrowing Owl. Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea (Bonaparte). GOSH, N. S., History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 310, 1891. Bondire, Capt, Chas., Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 395, 1892. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of the U. S., p. 189, 1893. Bailey, B, H., Two Hundred Wild Birds of Iowa, p. 62, 1906. Anderson, R. M., The Birds of Iowa, p. 268, 1907. Bruner, L., Wolcott, R. H., Swenk, M. H., A Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska, p. 56, 1909. A. O. U. Check-List, p. 177, 1910. Hunker, C. D., The Birds of Kansas, p. 148, 1913. KtdKway. H . Birds of North and Middle America, Part VI, Bulletin 50, U. S. Nat. MUH., p. 814, 1914. t Allen, A. F., Burrowing Owl Breeding in Iowa: Wilson Bulletin, XXVI, p. 213, 1914. tSwenk. M. II.. Tlu> Birds and Mammals of Nebraska, p. 882, 1915. INDEX 1M)K\. •The letters "bib" folio win* a persons nuiue in the index mdu<:uo that the reference is to the bibliographies which follow the d< is of the >, of birds. The pa&e number following: the letters shows the rtrst in \\hii-h the name is cited. A.adlilll o\\l. M 1'iTi. 7-4. iv/or. »»». 71 Alhr.vht. « Allen. A I Allen. .1. A.. hlh.* 4i>. .VJ .1/Mff.. prrtfttx i./u. l 7s I tu< oinitn, . Allierti .Mil \ lilt III Vs And. rson I; M t , »W ;>i lie, L19 HIT. I'M'. -JOl. '.'IS I I/ Ml /.I. 1 I'-' r/J< M«it< fo», I < 4re*4o«tfOj 1< n n/ii/.v .-'fMicn MI/HMIIM.V. Kl.'t. la ; . IV ,,HJ,.-M. s L83 • . B I. ,)/.///U> .vfriil/M/MM, 88, I. 1 /•/.-ll/lll/cl. An.liii.on. M 1! . Lib. oO. ^ »wl i • B K:iti.\ \ «. r.»n lijiii.-x. l«,-i-t ll.-.-ii.i. nib 1'iom .ipli \ I .. |Mlll||cMt lolls ill I , \\ ork of. on l'lrd>. I 1 llnlh-x. Mi- It II . :(0 UMir.l. s I « Itald ,.«Klr. :JS II II, Bartodi, I'MHI. Mb, 50, i M lilltllounipli.x -i ., r- Ualliet. l.etson. I. II.. 71' Hiirn o\\ I. ;;s. » «. 17s Hatred ..« I :;s. -«::. I-M l»«rro\\-.. \\ r. l»tb 101 Hatty, Joa n . bib, ii'i Boal, !••. !•:. i. i. n. t;i P.M. H.-el.e. MMI-.X I'. :in.l ( \V.. lilli. .V, M.-n.lli-i-. (Muirles. -17. hlh. 4!>. ll'u TJC i i" 158, IM P.. i i.\. <:. II . .'.I l , v; i p... K;;;. 170 ivl !!•('. I'.t.". n.-rry. II. N1.. hih. »:• BlbliOffraphitt, arrMiim-iiu-nt of. I1-' HiH hln,' rlilfkeii hnuU. s.: IUk' hlne lion ha\\k. s.". Kl.n <'<'(liir rivfk. Mexican ir<»slia\vU from. i;{:{ HI" Hilrkeii hawk. '.»:;. 1 I'.t HI* horned owl. ::s. L'lt Hip'iow. \. K :{;: Hill, l.i, -th of 111 r.i«s»\ *J^ lUrd, how to We:»Mi! length of. 4O > tret eh ol\ 40 llirds of pre>. Key to i" lUaek h:»\\k W«ek U.-»\\k ^Mintv. tin key from 47 II hi ok red tall. H'J lUne hawk, & Hlue hen l»ond. Frank. I.VI. 1UT Bond, n. i,. M, lloone. ni;u->h h:»\\k from. M Brewer, i M Mb, >>% /.••,. ,>;.--«,). UN Br»se«, Fred .1 . hii« Hrltt. iuar>h h.-»« « ln«ed h:»\\k. !JS, VJ. ll' tltuht oi habii n, \\ \:ulel\ In loxva, 1'J . • II. i 10, hlh. 122 Bruuor i,. hih. M Hi van. \MIM«- V . hlh. 'J07 111,'t.,,. .'I I 214 Uuena Ni-^ia ,..imi>. nltfeoii luiwk from. Hnettner. (Miarles, ,'{4, 57 Unllalo i'euiei. sno\\\ owl from, 2fJ4 Hunk. i. C l\, hlh. rfO Burffe, George, 47, 157 HiirlliiiMon. Mississippi kite from. 51 Hnrns. I' I . :»;.. hlh 107. ILT, Hnrr oak. i;,.hl. n eaule from. l-i:i Hnrrowtng OWl. Ifi i I 'J.'U luihits of. -j;;-j li,,r<;ilin fiiltifiiH. llo lnn-c'.t Caracaras, 152 C,ith,n-(3 Law. J. Eugene, 207 Lazell, F. J., 216 Lee county, pigeon hawk from, 16.'! Linn county, bald eagle from. 14-< See also Cedar Rapids, Marion Little chicken hawk, 69 hen hawk, 74 hoot owl, 208 Lloyd, bib. 105 Long-eared owl, 38, 43, 183 food of, 185 habits of, 184 M Macoun, Jas., bib. 107 Macoun, Jno., bib. 107 Manchester, barn owl from, 179 Maps, distributional records on. 45 Marion, long-eared owl from, 184 pigeon hawk from, 163 Marsh hawk, 38, 42, 59 food of. 62 Marsh owl, 189 Maxmillian. Prince zu Wied. bib. ."4 McNair, George T., 33 Mexican goshawk, 38, 132 Mississippi kite, 38, 43, 56 habits of, 57 in Iowa, 12 near Burlington, 57 near Omaha, 57 Monkey-faced owl, 178 Moore, Andy, bib. 151 Moore, Russell, 157 Mosher, A. A., bib. 151 Mount, Tom, bib. 166 Mount Vernon, barn owl from, 179 turkey buzzard from, 47 Mouse hawk, 169 Museum, Coe College, 15 N New Albin, sharp shinned hawk from, 70 Norris, H. W., 34. Norris, J. Parker, bib. 65, 105 Nuttall, Thomas, bib. 104 Nutting, C. C., 33, 153, 167 Ni/ctea, 223 nyctea, 223 Oberholser. H. C., 27 Omaha, Mississippi kite from, 57 Orr, Ellison, bib. 78 Osborn, Herbert, bib. 49 Osprey, 41, 175 habits of, 176 Otus, 208 asio asio, 208 Owl, Acadian, 203 barn, 38, 44, 178 barred, 38, 43, 194 big horned, 214 burrowing, 38, 44, 231 cat, 214 gray, 208 great grey, 38, 43, 201 great horned, 38, 43, 214 ground, 231 hawk, 38, 44, 228 hoot, 194, 214 Kirtland's, 45 little hoot, 208' long-eared, 38, 43, 183 marsh, 189 monkey-faced, 178 prairie, 189 red, 208 Richardson's, 45 saw-whet, 38, 44, 203 screech, 38, 43, 45, 208 short-eared, 38, 44, 189 snowy, 38, 43, 223 western horned, 38, 43 white, 223 Owls, key to, 43 Paarman, J. H., 34 Palisades on Cedar River, duck hawk from, 157 turkey buzzard from. 47 great horned owl from, 216 Pandion, 175 haliaetus carolinensis, 175 Pandionidae, 175 Parabuteo, 91 unicinctus Harrisi, 91 Peck, Georg-e D., 52 Peck. Morton E., 47. 52, bib. 7S Pellett. Frank C., 34. bib. 72. 06. 170 Petorson. Ben H., 3.° Pitreon hawk. 38. 43. 162 Richardson's. 38. 167 238 INDEX Plumage in red-tailed hawk, 97 Porter, A. F., 34 Prairie Falcon, 38, 152 nesting habits of, 153 Prairie owl, 189 Preston, J. W., 47, bib. 49, 184 Primaries, 40 Raptor '€8, 46 Rawson, Calvin, bib. 104 Red Cedar river, bald eagle from, 148 Red owl, 208 Red-shouldered hawk, 38, 42, 115 Red-tailed hawk, 38, 41, 93 food of, 95 habits of, 94 plumage in, 97 value of, 96 Red-tailed hawk, eastern, 93 Red-tail, black, 112 Krider's, 38, 108 western, 38, 41, 110 Rhynchodon, 157 Rich, G. S., bib. 166 Richardson's owl, 45 Richardson's pigeon hawk, 38, 167 Ridgway. Robert, 27, bib. 49, 88. L'52. 153 Rough-legged hawk, 38, 42, 133 dark phase of, 42 value of, 135 Rough leg, ferruginous, 38, 41, 139 S St. John's hawk, 133 Samuels, E. A. bib. 104 Savage, David L., bib. 66, 204 Savage, Walter G., bib. 50, 91, 132. 218 Saw-whet owl, 38, 44, 203 Say. Thomas, bib. 48 Scotiaptex, 201 nebulosa nebulosa, 201 Scott, J. H., 30, 53, 125 Screech owl, 38, 43, 45, 208 plumage of, 209 value of, 45, 210 Searles, W. W., bib. 55 Sharp-shinned hawk, 38, 43, 69 damage by, 70 Sheldon, Frank W., bib. 49, 171 Sheldon. Miss S. G. F., 34 Shellhorn. Joseph, 84, 88 Shoemaker. Frank H., bib. 50 Short-eared owl, 38, 44, 189 nest of, 190 Sioux City, barn owl from, 179 burrowing owl from, 233 goshawks from. 84 Snowy owl, 38, 43, 223 habits of, 224 Soutter, C. B., 33 Sparrow hawk, 38, 43, 45, 169 food of, 170 nesting of, 170 value of, 45 Spencer, Clementina Sinclair, 33 Speotyto, 231 • cunicularia hypofjaca, 231 Spirit Lake, turkey buzzard from. 47 Stephens. T. C.. 27. 84 bibliography of, 27. 49 Stoddard. H. L.. 204 Stone, Witmer, Mi,. 55 Stoner. Dayton. 27 Storm Lake, pigeon-hawk from. 167 prairie falcon from, 153 Story county, short-eared owl from. lS>o saw-whet owl from, 204 & trig €8, 178 Strigidae, 183 Strix, 194 varia varia, 194 Strode, W. L., bib. 14o Stromsten, F. A., 30 Surnia, 228 ulula caparoch, 228 Swallow-tailed kite, 38, 42, 51 value of, 53 Swainson's hawk, 38, 119 habits of, 120 Swenk, M. II., bib. 50 Tail, extent of, 40 Tarsus, extent of, 40 Thiesen, Harold, 84 Thompson, A. V., bib. 144 Tinker. A. D., bib. 188 Tinnunculus, 162 Topography, distribution related to. 34 Townsend, Manley P.. bib. 50 Trippe, T. M., bib. 49 Trostler, Isadore, bib. 49 Turkey buzzard. 46 vulture, 38, 46 U Upper Iowa river, turkey buzzard from, Van Buren county, great horned owl from, 218 Harris's hawk from, 91 Mexican goshawk from. 133 Van Vleck, B. H., bib. 104 Vennor, H. G., bib. 104 Vincent, E. F., bib, 49 Vulture, turkey, 38. 46 Vultures, 51 American, 46 W Walcott, R. H., bib. 50 Wall Lake, burrowing owl from. 233 Wandering falcon, 157 Ward, Henry, 61, 158 Ward, James. 158 Warren, B. H., bib. 49, 96, 104 Warsaw, Illinois, western goshawk from. 89 Washington, D. C., duck hawk from. 158 Waubeck, bald eagle near. 148 Webster. E. B., 47, bib. 65 Western goshawk, 38, 88 in Iowa. 12 Western horned owl, 38, 43 Western Red-tail, 38, 41, 110 Wetmore, Alexander, 185 Whitcomb. Seldon L., bib. 171 White. H. G.. bib. 78 White headed eagle, 147 White owl, 223 Wiekham. IT. F., 27 Wild, Doc., bib. 151 Williams, H. S., bib, 49 Williams, John. bib. 182 Williams, Mrs. V. S., bib. 198 Wilson, Alexander, bib. 104 Wilson, B. H., bib. 66 Wing, extent of, 40 Winnebago county, pigeon hawk from. 163 Woodruff, R. M., bib. 50 Woods, Paul C.. bib. 79 Worthen. Charles K.. 88 FOURTEEN DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. LD 21-100m-2,'55 (B139s22)476 General Library University of California Berkeley