DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS? 167 



Important as is the work of some of the hawks in destroying 

 noxious insects, this is by no means the chief service the group ren- 

 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 summarily 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 sit- 

 ting 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 deplet- 

 ing 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. 



WOODPECKERS. The woodpeckers apparently were expressly de- 

 signed for the protection of trees, both forest trees and fruit trees. 

 Their chisel-like beaks driven by strong muscles make effective tools 

 with which to dig out of wood the larvae of burrowing insects, in 

 which work the long extensible tongues greatly aid. The nature 

 and full extent of the services of woodpeckers in the cause of forest 

 growth and preservation are more clearly recognized as the subject 

 is more carefully studied. 



