THE ENGLISH SPARROW AND ITS ALLIES 299 



our hawks, the sparrow-hawk, which is only about the 

 size of the robin, is one of our commonest; others are 

 the sharp-shinned hawk, which kills birds almost ex- 

 clusively, and is especially destructive to poultry, 1 and 

 Cooper's hawk, which is also destructive to birds. These 

 two hawks have practically no redeeming qualities, ex- 

 cept the fact that they prey upon the English sparrow. 

 The vultures are represented in our fauna by the 

 turkey-buzzard, which, like other members of the family, 

 feeds on carrion. The European and African vultures 

 even exceed the turkey-buzzard in size. The condor 

 is the largest of the American Raptores. It preys even 

 upon live sheep and calves. The owls, which live in dark 

 holes and feed upon small mammals at night, are found 

 over the globe. Our commonest species is the reddish 

 gray screech-owl. 2 The great horned owl is an inhabitant 

 of wooded tracts, and is destructive to poultry and small 

 mammals. The snowy owl is one of the handsomest of all 

 owls, and is frequently seen stuffed in houses in Europe 

 as well as in North America. 



The Scansores include the toucans and cuckoos on the 

 one hand and the woodpeckers on the other. The toucans 

 are characterized by an enormous bill, which in extreme 



*/ 



cases is as long as the rest of the bird. It would be ex- 

 tremely heavy were it not filled with air spaces of great 

 extent. These birds inhabit Brazil. The great bills are 

 of use in feeding on fruits. Filling the place in the Old 

 World of the toucans of the New are the hornbills of 

 Africa and Asia, which are likewise frugivorous. The 

 cuckoos are typically represented by the Old World 

 cuckoos. Like our own cow-bird, they have the peculiar 



iFig. 283. -Fig. 284. 



