CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 27 



species of owls preyed upon the smaller mammals ; yet every man's hand 

 was against these useful birds and when an occasional fowl disappeared 

 as a result of a visit from some swift-winged falcon, the event was 

 heralded far and wide as absolutely indisputable evidence that all large 

 birds are blood-thirsty destroyers of poultry, and even when a very small 

 amount of investigation would have shown that a weasel or fox was 

 responsible for the loss, it was much easier to place the blame on a "hen 

 hawk" and Avage unceasing persecutions on all members of the hawk 

 family, both large and small. 



In 1878 Lyman Belding, one of the pioneers in San Joaquin Valley 

 ornithology, secured several specimens of the white-tailed kite, which 

 were sent to the United States National Museum for examination and 

 study. In describing these Mr. Belding wrote as follows: "This is a 

 common constant resident of Stockton, where I have seen as many as 

 twenty at the same moment within a circle of half a mile. The speci- 

 mens I sent were stained * * * from catching mice in a large 

 alfalfa field in the reclaimed tule ground." 



In 1915, Dr. Joseph Grinnell of the Universit.y of California, after 

 exhausting every means for obtaining information regarding this species, 

 was forced to say : " It is now everywhere very much reduced in numbers 

 and restricted in range, with promise of early extinction." What a 

 pity it could not have been spared to continue its useful work. 



But even now when the grain fields have been replaced, to a large 

 extent, hy vineyards ; when alfalfa fields spread a green carpet over 

 acre after acre, and when the blossoming fruit trees impart a fra- 

 grance and beauty to the entire valley, the conservationist has difficulties 

 to face ; for with far too many of our farmers it is the rule to regard 

 with suspicion any small bird seen about the farm, and even the wholly 

 insectivorous species are given scanty welcome. Any bird seen on the 

 ground in the gardens or fields is put down as having been caught in the 

 act of digging out seeds or pulling up sprouting grain, and if it ventures 

 near the orchard it is immediately charged with picking off buds or 

 eating fruit. 



It is inevitable that in the evolution of a vast empire like the San 

 Joaquin Valley from virgin soil to the most productive area of equal 

 size in the world, we must lose certain species which, from the esthetic 

 standpoint it is highly desirable to preserve ; but we can not expect the 

 practical, up-to-date agriculturist to give heed to any argument which 

 embraces nothing more than mere sentiment. Fortunately, however, 

 many farmers have come to realize that from a cold dollars and cents 

 point of view they can not longer aflford to be uninformed regarding 

 the economic value of each and every wild creature in their neighbor- 

 hood. It is too late now to waste time in idle regrets over past mistakes 

 and neglected opportunities, but no well-informed student of these prob- 

 lems would gainsay the fact that our farmers might have been saved 

 many thousands of dollars during the past few years if all concerned 

 had been better informed along these lines. 



A short time ago we read of a commissioner being sent to a foreign 

 country, at an expense of several thousand dollars, to discover, if possi- 

 ble, an enemy that would prey upon a certain insect pest. This neces- 

 sity might possibly never have arisen had our native birds been allowed 

 to carry on the work which nature intended for them. 



