520 



prejudice and widespread iguoiaiice Ihi-ougiiuut 

 Pennsylvania, a few years ago, prompted the lawmak- 

 ers to pass a measure vvliich allowed bounties to be 

 paid for all kinds of Hawks and Owls as well as some 

 other animals. These birds, with few exceptions, 

 and some of the mammals, also, which were included 

 in the bounty law, lived almost wholly on Meadow 

 Mice. These birds of prey and their copartners, or 

 the mice-destroying mammals, had voracious appetites, 

 and being numerous in agricultural districts, tliey read- 

 ily kept the Mice in check. 



The stimulus which Scalp Acts gave hunters to 

 slay, seemingly without any consideration, nearly all 

 kinds of wild birds and mammals they found, re- 

 sulted in the killing of many thousands of animals 

 whose dietary consisted almo-st entirely of destructive 

 Mice. Hawks and Owls, which are foremost among 

 Nature's natural agencies to aid man iu combating 

 the voles or Meadow Mice, are not prolific like many 

 others of the feathered kind. 



The cruel warfare so relentlessly v^^aged for many 

 years, with Legislative aid, against these faithful 

 guardians of the farmer's crops, is now being most 

 dearly paid for by the loss annually of thousands of 

 dollars through ravages of the rapidly increasinc 

 army of well fed, sleek Meadow or Field Mice. 



FISHES. 



One hundred and fifty kinds of fishes, it is said, are 

 found in the waters (Lake Erie included) of Pennsyl- 

 vania. Many of these are highly valuable for food. 



The Susquehanna river al different points, fur- 



