GREAT HORNED OWL (Bubo virgin- 



ianus and subspecies) 



Length, about 22 inches. The great size and 

 long ear tufts sufficiently distinguish this owl. 



Range : Resident over the greater part of 

 North and South America. 



This, our largest owl, inliabits heavily for- 

 ested and unsettled regions and is becoming 

 more and more rare in tliickly populated areas. 

 It is well known by its far-reaching call — 

 "hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo" — which is heard best in the 

 still small hours of the night, when it echoes 

 across the expanse of canyon and forest in the 

 far west. 



This owl destroys many partridges and other 

 game birds, and unhoused poultry is never safe 

 from its nocturnal attacks. Its deeds are those 

 of darkness, since usually it hunts only at night, 

 though when disturbed in the daytime it can 

 see well enough to take good care of itself. 

 Its bill of fare is a long one and includes many 

 kinds of mammals and birds. It is one of the 

 few creatures which when hungry do not hesi- 

 tate to attack the skunk, and it appears to have 

 no great difficulty in killing this rather for- 

 midable little beast. That it does not always 

 do so with entire impunity is evident from the 

 odor frequently attaching to its feathers. Its 

 destruction of rodents entitles it to our grati- 

 tude, especially when it kills pocket gophers, 

 rats, mice, ground squirrels, and rabbits. 



COOT (Fulica americana) 



Length, al)Out 15 inches. The slate-colored 

 plumage, with blackish head and neck, white 

 bill, and scalloped toes mark this bird apart 

 from all others. 



Range : Breeds from southern Canada south 

 to Lower California, Texas, Tennessee, and 

 New Jersey ; also in southern Mexico and 

 Guatemala ; winters from southern British Co- 

 lumbia, Nevada, Utah, Ohio \"alley, and \'ir- 

 ginia south to Panama. 



The coot, or mud-hen, is a sort of combina- 

 tion of duck, gallinulc. and rail, and withal is 

 a very interesting laird. Fortunately for the 

 coot, its flesh is little esteemed, and by many, 

 indeed, is considered unfit for human consump- 

 tion. The coot is thus passed by in contempt 

 by most sportsmen, and in some regions it is 

 as tame as can well be imagined, swimminj; 

 within a few feet of the observer with entire 

 imconcern. Under other circumstances, how- 

 ever, as in Louisiana, where it is shot for food 

 under the name panic d'eati. it becomes as wild 

 as the most wary of ducks. It frequents both 

 salt and fresh water, preferably the latter. 

 The mud-hen is one of the few .American birds 

 that occasionally visits the distant Hawaiian 

 Islands in fall and winter. Finding conditions 

 there to their liking, some of the immigrants, 

 probably centuries ago, elected to remain and 

 found a new colony, and there, in the fresh- 

 water i)onds of the island archipelago, their 

 descendants still live and thrive. 



The food of the coot consists almost entirely 

 of water plants of no use to man. There 

 would seem, therefore, to be no excuse for 

 killing or disturbing the bird in any way. 



WOOD DUCK (Aix sponsa) 



Length, about 19 inches. The elongated crest 

 of feathers and variegated plumage of white 

 and brown, spotted with chestnut, ochraceous, 

 and steel blue, are characteristic. 



Range : Breeds from Washington to middle 

 California, and from Manitoba and southeast- 

 ern Canada to Texas and Florida : winters 

 chiefly in the United States. 



It can be said of this duck, as of no other, 

 that it is our very own, since most of the 

 breeding area it occupies is within our terri- 

 tory, and by far the greater number of the 

 species winter within the United States. The 

 story of its former abundance on our ponds 

 and streams and of its present scarcity is a sad 

 commentary on our improvidence and a warn- 

 ing for the future. Happily, it is not yet too 

 late to save this most beautiful of our ducks, 

 and under proper regulations it may be ex- 

 pected not only to hold its own, but to increase 

 until it is once more a proper object for the 

 skill of sportsmen. Under present conditions 

 all true sportsmen should refrain from its fur- 

 ther pursuit. 



As is well known, the wood duck is one oi 

 the few wildfowl that builds its nest in hollow 

 trees, and the security thus provided for the 

 young is one of the factors to be relied upon 

 for the increase of the species. North, south, 

 east, and west, the States of every section are, 

 or should be. interested in the preservation of 

 this distinctively .American duck, and should 

 make suitable regulations for its welfare and 

 see to their enforcement. 



SPOTTED SANDPIPER (Actitis 

 macularia) 



Length, about 6 inches. The "tip up," with 

 its brownish gray upper parts and white under 

 ])arts and its teetering motion, is too well 

 known to need description. 



Range : Breeds in northwestern .Alaska and 

 in much of northern Canada south to southern 

 California, .Arizona, southern Texas, southern 

 Louisiana, and northern South Carolina : win- 

 ters from California, Louisiana, and South 

 Carolina to smithern Brazil and Peru. 



The little "tip up," as it is appropriately 

 named, from its quaint nodding motion, unduly 

 favors no one section or community, but elects 

 to dwell in every region suited to its needs 

 from Alaska to Florida. It is doubtless more 

 widely known than any other of our shore 

 birds, and as it takes wing when disturbed, its 

 "wit, wit" comes to us from beach, river side, 

 and mill pond, from one end l^^ tiie land to the 

 other. It is the only shore bird that habitually 

 nests in cornlields and pastures, and its hand- 

 some buff eggs spotted with cliocolate are well 

 known to the farmer's boy everywhere. Much 

 is to be said in favor of the food habits of the 

 little tip up, as the bird includes in its diet 

 army worms, squash bugs, cabbage worms, 

 grasshoppers, green flies, and craytishes. Hav- 

 ing thus earned a rii;ht to be numbered among 

 the farmers' friends, the bird sli,,nl(I bi- < xiMunt 

 from persecution. 



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