FOREST ZOOLOGY. 53 



Dr. A. R. Fisher, of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, 

 Washington, D. C, says: "Although this hawk occasionally carries off 

 poultry and game birds, its economic value as a destroyer of mammal pests 

 is so great, that its slight irregularities should be pardoned. * * * The 

 marsh hawk is unquestionably one of the most beneficial as it is one of our 

 most abundant hawks, and its presence and increase should be encouraged 

 in every way possible, not only by protecting it by law, but by disseminating 

 a knowledge of the benefits it confers. It is probably the most active and 

 determined foe of meadow mice and ground squirrels, destroying greater 

 numbers of these pests than any other species, and this fact alone should 

 entitle it to protection, even if it destroyed no other injurious animals." 

 Report of Secretary of Agriculture, 1889, p. 372. 



common screech owl, Megas copsasid. 



This wood-haunting owl is no better appreciated than the hawk. It 

 does sometimes knab a partridge, a prairie chicken or a warbler, but its 

 favorite dish is mice and gophers; and at night it is on the hunt for these 

 rodents in the forest brush, in the orchard and field, around the barn and 

 corn-crib. This and the Burrowing Owl also relish grasshoppers, crickets, 

 beetles, etc. Dr. Samuel Aughey says: "It is largely an insect-eating 

 bird." A great mouser is the owl, and sensible farmers let them stay during 

 severe winters in their barns, thus protecting their grains. Let the wise 

 old owl, then, be "fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth." 



GAME BIRDS. 



Among our most valuable game birds of the forest and water-dotted 

 meadows, are the ducks and wild geese. The partridges, prairie chickens, 

 plovers, grouse and quails should also be included in the list. The meadows 

 of the wild woods are their hatching grounds. Fast as these dry up under 

 deforestation, they retreat. Preserve the woods and they will propagate 

 to bless us by devouring insect pests and supplying our tables. "As long 

 as there are no retreats or building-places where the feathered friends of 

 ours can rear their offsprings, we need not look for their aid in fighting 

 our insect enemies." 



AN UNPARDONABLE FASHION. 



Not less than 5,000,000 birds are annually murdered to adorn the hats of 

 women and young misses! They wear them even to church and listen to 

 that gospel which teaches that "Not a sparrow shall fall to the ground 

 without your Father's notice." 



BIRDS PLANTING FORESTS. 



The benefactions of our birds are by no means circumscribed to protection 

 of our crops by their devouring preying insects nor to the food they supply 

 us with. In his "Origin of Species," Charles Darwin shows how certain 

 birds annually cross the Atlantic, bearing forest and other seeds adhering 

 to their claws and beaks, depositing them on the islands and continents, 

 some of which will spring up and live. It is not too much credit to say 



