148 WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



and disappearance of the fur-bearing animals 

 game-killers nearly all of them has fully kept 

 pace with the general destruction of game. In view 

 of the destruction of the wild food supply, it is not 

 strange that to-day the wolves, coyotes, pumas and 

 bears are compelled to resort to the cattle, sheep, 

 horses, pigs and poultry of the farmer and ranch- 

 man in order to avoid starvation. 



The birds that now are known to be more 

 destructive than beneficial are few in number, but 

 fairly conspicuous. Few indeed are the birds of 

 North America whose depredations are so pro- 

 nounced 'and so constant that they create a general 

 average of wickedness that is intolerable and clearly 

 deserving of death. It is a serious matter to con- 

 demn a species to death by violence, and American 

 naturalists have learned the wisdom of not signing 

 death warrants hastily or on insufficient evidence. 

 After all has been said, there appear to be only 

 seven bird species so totally depraved, and so 

 unprotected by mitigating circumstances, that the 

 verdict of guilty is unanimous. 



The Sharp- Shinned Hawk, a near relative of the 

 falcons, is a keen hunter, a swift flyer and a relent- 

 less murderer of small birds. In size it is next to 

 our pigeon-hawk and third from the sparrow-hawk, 

 the smallest of all. It hunts along fences and hedges 

 like a dog hunting rabbits, and pursues song- 

 birds into and through their thickets like a winged 

 mongoose. Its principal food is song-birds, and 



