ECONOMIC VALUE OF OUR BIRDS 81 



pine mice, 20 shrews, 6 jumping mice and 1 mole. 

 The collection contained the skull of one bird only, 

 a vesper sparrow. 



The Long-Eared Owl has a record for rats and 

 mice very similar to that of the barn owl ; scores of 

 mice, rats and shrews destroyed, but alas ! too many 

 birds, also! Its nearest relative, the Short-Eared 

 Owl, is a bird of precisely similar habits. 



Formerly the Red-Shouldered and Red-Tailed 

 Hawks were universally known as "chicken 

 hawks," hated accordingly by the farmer and shot 

 whenever possible. Now it is known that those 

 hawks rarely feed on domestic poultry, and that 

 they devour so many wild mice and rats that they 

 are decidedly beneficial to man and worthy of 

 protection. 



In 1885, the rural feeling against hawks and 

 owls reached high- water mark in Pennsylvania. In 

 response to the demands of the farmers of the state, 

 the Pennsylvania legislature enacted a law provid- 

 ing a bounty of fifty cents each for the heads of 

 hawks and owls. Naturally, great slaughter of 

 these birds ensued. In two years, 180,000 scalps 

 had been brought in and $90,000 had been paid out 

 for them. 



The awakening came even more swiftly than the 

 ornithologists expected. By the end of two years 

 from the enactment of "the hawk law," the farmers 

 found their fields and orchards thoroughly overrun 

 by destructive mice, rats and insects; and again 



