1 70 Cinci)inati Society of Natural History. 



The majority of the species of hawks and owls hve upon 

 small rodents, as lield mice and insec:ts. The great horned owl 

 sometimes preys upon birds, as do also the Cooper's hawk and the 

 sharp-shinned hawks, but the other hawks live mainly upon insects 

 and field mice and the like, as do also most of the owls. The 

 beautiful sparrow hawk lives almost exclusively upon insects. 



What did the committee do? They did just what they should 

 have done, viz.: They passed resolutions to the effect that the act 

 of June 23, 1885, offering a premium for the destruction of hawks 

 and owls is unwise and prejudicial to the interests of agriculture; 

 and they decided to rec|uest their members of the Legislature to 

 aid in its appeal. 



Two papers read before this society, one by Mr. J. W. Shorten 

 and another by Mr. Charles W. Uury, give the results of these 

 gentlemen's examination of the contents of the stomach of rapa- 

 cious birds, and confirm the position taken by the society of Ches- 

 ter County. 



The point I make here is this, that the farmer or poultryman 

 has the right to shoot any hawk or owl he knows is depredating on 

 his poultry. But it is not just for the State or for fashion to en- 

 courage the wholesale destruction of these birds. 



^Ve come now to that class of l)irds that eat cherries and other 

 small fruits. The question is as to whether the birds do more harm 

 than good the season through. If they do more good than harm, 

 they should be spared and nourished. You see the question is not 

 one of sentiment ; it is one of dollars and cents and of pure busi- 

 ness. ( )f course many of our feathered friends love berries. Where 

 the main crop of the farmer consists of small fruit he is entitled to 

 shoot the small marauders, and, what is more to the point and 

 more effective, suspend i)ieces of tin by cords to be waved by the 

 breeze, and other scarecrows. But the majority of farmers are not 

 large growers of small fruits. One of the greatest enemies the 

 farmer has to contend with are insects There are insects who eat 

 his trees, working under the bark. Insects attack his wheat, his 

 corn, the fresh leaves of his growing vegetables. What aliout the 

 potato-bug, the locust, wholesale destroyers of the crops — the 

 countless insects that live upon and destroy the flowers of the 

 horticulturist and florist ? Right here I will quote extracts from 

 the remarks of Charles A. Green, Chairman Committee on Ornith- 

 ology, W. N. Y. H. Society, Rochester, N. Y.: 



