LETTER OF TEANSMITTAL. 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY, 



Washington, D. C., March 18, 1912. 



SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith and to recommend 

 for publication as a Farmers' Bulletin a report on Some Common 

 Game, Aquatic, and Rapacious Birds in Relation to Man, by W. L. 

 McAtee and F. E. L. Beal, assistants in the Biological Survey. Care- 

 ful study of the food habits of the game birds, including the group 

 known as shore birds, shows that these birds are of great value to 

 the farmer. The water birds, as the grebes, gulls, and terns, have 

 greater economic value and do less harm than is ordinarily supposed; 

 while some species, like Franklin's gull and the black tern, are 

 markedly beneficial. It is pointed out in this bulletin that many 

 birds of prey are exceedingly valuable to the farmer, but the opposite 

 is true of the Cooper's hawk, the sharp-shinned hawk, and the gos- 

 hawk, which should be destroyed as the determined foes of poultry, 

 game birds, and most of the smaller insectivorous species. 

 Respectfully, 



HENRY W. HENSHAW, 



Chief, Biological Survey. 

 Hon. JAMES WILSON, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



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