632 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



ders man. Within our boundaries are some 50 species of hawks and 

 35 species of owls. With the exception of perhaps half a dozen 

 hawks, which subsist mainly upon birds, and the great horned owl, 

 hawks and owls are to be classed as beneficial. It is not to be denied 

 that occasionally the larger species carry off a chicken and kill some 

 game, but such acts are exceptions to the general rule. Mice and 

 other small rodents constitute the chief food of such of the species 

 as are not largely insectivorous, and it is by the destruction of these 

 pests of the farmer that hawks and owls earn protection. 



Of late years the acreage under cultivation in the United States 

 has increased rapidly and the value of the crops raised has augmented 

 by leaps and bounds. With increased acreage under cultivation the 

 number of rodents has multiplied correspondingly, because of the 

 abundance of nutritious food and also because their natural foes have 

 been destroyed by man. The services of hawks and owls were never 

 so much needed as now, and these faithful helpers of man are likely 

 to be needed still more in the future; yet thousands of hawks and 

 owls are yearly slaughtered because the part they play in nature's 

 scheme is misunderstood or ignored. Unquestionably individual 

 hawks that have learned the way to the poultry yard should be sum- 

 marily dealt with, but because occasional individuals of two or three 

 species destroy chickens it is manifestly unfair to take vengeance on 

 the whole tribe. The very name "hen hawk" is a misnomer so far as 

 the birds to which it is chiefly applied are concerned. Moreover, it is 

 made the excuse by the farmer's boy and the sportsman for killing 

 every hawk, large and small, that flies. Thousands of these useful 

 birds are killed annually by the thoughtless for no better reason than 

 that, when sitting motionless, they offer an easy target for the small- 

 bore rifle, or, flying, present a tempting mark for the shotgun. So 

 far has popular misapprehension in regard to these birds gone that 

 again and again States and counties have offered bounties for their 

 heads, thus depleting treasuries, and inviting heavy losses to the 

 farmer through the increased numbers of insects and rodents, which 

 it is the function of these birds to hold in check. 



Wood Warblers. America is peculiarly fortunate in possessing 

 this beautiful group, in some respects unlike the birds of any other 

 land, and excelled by none in grace of form, sprightly motions, and 

 beauty of plumage. The family is large and numbers of the species 

 included in it visit every part of our domain at some season or other. 

 While some live on or near the ground and share with the thrushes 

 the task of hunting for ground-frequenting insects, the great ma- 

 jority haunt the trees and shrubbery, and spend their time gleaning 

 an insect harvest from foliage and twigs. Eggs, larvae, and adult 

 insects alike are welcome, and when flying insects are dislodged from 

 their hiding places the warblers successfully essay the role of fly- 

 catchers and snap them up on the wing. No insects are too minute 

 to escape their prying eyes, and they are particularly successful in 

 discovering and devouring plant lice, immense numbers of which 

 infest our fruit and shade trees. Finally, it may be said of the war- 



