Birds of Pennsylvania. C>9 



'•" MiMin. — ' We favor the repeal of that portion which relates to 

 liawks and, owls, and leaving the remainder as it now is.' 



" Montgomery. — ' The repeal of that portion relating to hawks and 

 owls would be good.' 



" Northampton. — ' We are not in favor of repealing the act, and 

 prefer it as it now stands.' 



t. Perry. — ' The repeal of the law would be worse than useless. The 

 money already paid in would be thrown away. In the future, fewer 

 mammals and birds will be found and destroyed ; the number will 

 gradually decrease each year.' 



'" Schuylkill. — ' The repeal or non-repeal of the law is immaterial 

 to us.' 



'• Susquehanna. — " Favorable to a repeal of the act.' 



'' Tioga. — ^ The act referred to is a nuisance, and should be repealed 

 as soon as possible.' 



" Union. — 'The commissioners recommend the repeal of the whole 

 bill, except as to foxes.' 



'■' Venango. — ' We are in favor of the repeal of the whole act, be- 

 lieving that it would give entire satisfaction to the tax -payers of our 

 county.' 



'■• Warren. — ' Repeal the whole act by all means.' 



" Washington. — ' It is the opinion of the commissioners that the 

 only damage by hawks and owls is the destruction of our game birds, 

 which is only felt by hunters; on the other hand, by the destruction 

 of mice and other small vermin, they are beneficial to the iarmer. 

 The repeal of the whole act would be beneficial to our farmers.' 



"■ Wyoming. — ' The effect of the repeal would be good.' 



" A number of the commissioners have appended to their reports a 

 list of the number of each kind of mammal or bird upon which bounty 

 has been paid. As indicative of the relative proportion of the boun- 

 ties upon each, we give the following : 



" Chester. — Hawks, QQ% ; owls, 60 ; minks, 20S ; weasels, 248, and 

 foxes 107. 



'• Franklin. — Hawks, 678 ; owls, 68 ; wild-cats, 25 ; foxes, 425 ; 

 minks, 155, and weasels, 83. 



" Several of the commissioners state that the premiums upon hawks 

 and owls constitute more than fifty per cent, of the total amount 

 paid, while several of the commissioners call attention to the fact that 

 wolves are enumerated in the title, but are not provided for in the 

 body of the bill. 



" In addition to the collection of data in this direction the ornithol- 

 ogist of the board. Dr. B. H. Warren, of West Chester, Pa., also had 

 his attention directed to the actual results of the eff'ect of the law : 

 First, as it relates to hawks and owls, and, second, as a whole. The 

 data which was collected by him is i^artially shown in an article in 

 another portion of this rejjort, and in a lecture delivered at the an- 

 nual meeting of the board in January last. 



'• As a condensation of a large amount of correspondence upon this 

 subject, which has reached the office of the board during the past year, 

 we give the following as covering the main points: 



'* The act should be repealed because — 



"1. It causes a drain upon the treasuries of the respective counties 

 which is not warranted by the results produced. 



