44 THE RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF IOWA 



Medium size; length more than 12 and less than 19 inches. 



Length 16 to 19 inches. Barn Owl. Buffy speckled; eyes 



brownish. Not common. No. 23. 



Length 14.75 to 17 inches. Hawk Owl. Grayish brown and 



white. Barred beneath with gray. Tail long. Very rare. 



No. 32. 



Length 14 to 16 inches. Short-eared Owl. Yellowish buff and 



dusky. Common, especially Fall. No. 25. 



Smallest size; length less than 12 inches. 



Length 9 to 1 1 inches. Burrowing Owl. Buffy brown ; legs 

 long. Lives in burrows. Rare. No. 33. 

 Length 7.50 to 8.50 inches. Saw-whet Owl. Brownish, 

 marked with white. Rare. No. 28. 



NOTES. 



In treating of the birds of prey of any limited territory, such for 

 instance as the state of Iowa, the fact must not be overlooked that 

 species of Raptorial birds that come only occasionally within our 

 borders are nevertheless of considerable value to our state because 

 they destroy injurious mammals, insects, etc., outside our boundaries, 

 thus preventing these pests from extending their range and invad- 

 ing our state. The interrelation of states in this regard should not 

 be overlooked and laws should be made not with relation to state 

 boundaries but with' the broader consideration of the distribution of 

 fauna. 



In the letter of transmittal written by Dr. C. Hart Merriam in 

 Dr. Fisher's Hawks and Owls of the United States the following 

 statement is made which must be astonishing to the majority of 

 people who have hitherto looked upon the birds of prey as one and 

 all worthy of destruction: 



"Only six of the 73 species and subspecies of Hawks and Owls 

 of the United States are injurious. Of these, three are so extremely 

 rare they need hardly be considered, and another (the Fish Hawk) 

 is only indirectly injurious, leaving but two (the Sharp-shinned 

 Hawk and Cooper's Hawk) that really need be taken into account 

 as enemies of agriculture. Omitting the six species that feed largely 

 on poultry and game, 2,212 stomachs were examined, of which 56 

 per cent contained mice and other small mammals, 27 contained in- 

 sects, and only 3^2 per cent poultry or game birds." 



