100 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [15:3— March, 1919 



As a matter of fact, perhaps it would be well to say right here, 

 that hawks and owls have been much maligned. Of the fifty or 

 more species of hawks and the thirty-five varieties of owls within 

 our borders, only three of the former and one of the latter are 

 entirely injurious. They are the goshawk, very few of which are 

 found in our country. Cooper's hawk, the sharp-shinned hawk, 

 and the great-homed owl. The red-tailed hawk and the red- 

 shouldered hawk are particularly slandered by the name -of "hen 

 hawk" which is frequently applied to them, as the Biological 

 Survey has fully proved that not more than one and one-half per 

 cent, of their food is made up of poultry and game. The Swainson 

 hawk of the western plains destroys enough grasshoppers, crickets, 

 beetles, mice, and other small rodents to save the farmers more 

 than one hundred thousand dollars every year. The crow, too, 

 bears a reputation almost as black as his feathers, and mostly 

 without reason. The Government experts consider him a benefac- 

 tor and say that he destroys enough field mice, cutworms, and 

 insect pests every year to leave a fine balance in his favor. 



If you know what a bird eats, you know what he is. If he eats 

 pests, he is a blessing — if he eats blessings, he is a pest. If he is in 

 the former class, he should be protected, if in the latter, destroyed, 

 Some birds do all good and no harm ; few, if any, can be said to do 

 no good. The Biological Survey and the Audubon Societies of our 

 country have been of inestimable help in determining what birds 

 are useful, not only by watching their habits in real life, but by 

 actual examination of the contents of their stomachs. The}'- have 

 found that: "The thrushes, wrens, larks, and sparrows scour the 

 surface of the earth for insects. The warblers, nuthatches, and 

 creepers inhabit the trees and bushes, and few insects escape their 

 microscopic eyes. The woodpeckers, besides looking after the 

 limbs and bark of trees, by digging into the wood draw forth and 

 devour the burrowing larvaj which are safe from all other foes. 

 Fly catchers and warblers snap up the winged insects as they fly 

 from tree to tree, and the nighthawks and swallows patrol the high 

 air above pastures, bushes, and trees, on the alert for those of the 

 enemy who have escaped pursuit below. The waters and their 

 shores also have their feathered police which keep in subjection the 

 marauding insects and rodents, except where man destroys the 

 balance of nature by killing the patrols. 



One robin will eat as many as two hundred cutworms in a single 

 morning. These worms if laid end to end would reach about 



