SOME NOTES ON NEBRASKA BIRDS. 85 



"Tlie statements herein contaiueJ respecting the food of the various 

 hawks and owls are based on a critical examination, by scientific ex- 

 perts, of the actual contents of about 2,700 stomachs of these birds, 

 and consequently may be fairly regarded as a truthful showing of the 

 normal food of each species. The result proves that a class of birds 

 commonly looked upon as enemies to the farmer*, and indiscriminately 

 destroyed whenever occasion offers, really rank among his best friends, 

 and with few exceptions should be preserved and encouraged to take 

 up their abode in the neighborhood of his home. Only six of the 

 seventy-three 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 and Cooper's Hawks) 

 that really need be taken into account as enemies to 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 per cent insects, and only 3| per cent poul- 

 try or game birds. In view of these facts the folly of offering boun- 

 ties for the destruction of hawks and owls, as has been done by sev- 

 eral states, becomes apparent, and the importance of an accurate 

 knowledsfe of the economic status of our common birds and mammals 

 is overwhelmingly demonstrated." 



Family CATHARTIDiE.— American Vultures. 



325. Cathartes aura {Linn.).— Turkey Buzzard ; Turkey Vul- 



ture, 



Omaha, West Point, Dismal river— breeding, Crawford, Lincoln (L. Brunei); 

 "Summer resident, common, arrive in April and leave in September " (Taylor) ; 

 "Nearly the whole of temperate and tropical America " (Bendire); do. (Go-^s); 

 Omaha— breeds (L. Skow); Peru, breeds— common (Coleman); Cherry 

 county— breeds (J. M. Bates); Gage county (F. A. Colby); "quite common 

 summer resident" (I. S. Trostler). 



326. Catharista atrata (Bartram).— Black Vulture; Carrion 



Crow. 



"Casually to * * Kansas and South Dakota" (Bendire); "Casually to 



Maine, Nev^ York, Illinois, Dakota, etc." (Goss); Wolf Creek, Nebr. (D. H. 



Talbot). 



The food-habits of both the Turkey Vulture and the Carrion Crow 



or Black Vulture, are of such a nature that the destruction of these 



