. 29 



seem 



7 

 . 6 



190 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



In this way, forty-eight species (with their sub-species) of hawks 

 and owls have been considered in their relation to agriculture. The 

 food and habits of each species is given in detail, and, for conve- 

 nience, the whole have been classified and placed in four different 

 groups, as follows : 



(a) Those wholly beneficial or wholly harmless ... 6 

 (6) Those chiefly beneficial ..... 



(e) Those in which t,he beneficial and liarmful qualities 

 to balance each other ..... 



(d) Those positively harmful .... 



For our present purpose it will not be necessary to go over the 

 above list in detail, as many of the species enumerated are not found 

 in Ontario; but we have all the bad ones and a good many of the 

 othei's, and I shall now give these in detail. The total number is 

 twenty-eight. 



(<x) Those wholly beneficial or wholly harmless. In this class 

 we have only the Rough-legged Buzzard and the 8 wal- 

 low-tailed Kite ........ 2 



(6) Those chirfiy beneficial, that is, those which take game 

 and poultry occasionallj^, but kill enough field mice 

 and other vermin to inori' than pay for it, leaving a 

 small balance in their favor. In this class we have 

 the Marsh Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered 

 Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Spar- 

 row Hawk, Barn Owl, Long-eared Owl, Short-eared 

 Owl, Great Gray Owl, Barred Owl, Richardson's Owl, 

 Saw-whet Owl, Screech Owl, Snowy Owl, Hawk Owl . 16 

 ((') Of those whose good and bad deeds balance each other, 

 we liave the Great-horned Owl, Golden Eagle, Bald 

 Eagle, Pigeon Hawk ....... 4 



((/) Of those which are positively injurious, we have the Gyr- 

 falcon. Goshawk, Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, 

 Peregrine Falcon, Fish Hawk . . . . 6 



It is very gratifying to find the report so favorable to our Birds 

 of Prey, and even of Class d a few words in favor might be said. 

 Of course. Dr. Fisher, in the position of judge interpreting the law, 

 -could not but condemn where the evidence was so conclusive; but 

 from our standpoint in Ontario, we cannot complain very much, for 

 the two largest and most destructive, the Gyrfalcon and Goshawk, 

 are peculiar to the far north, the former, especially, rarely coming 

 within our boundary; and even the Peregrine, though ranked as an 



