THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF BIRDS. 27 



COLUMBAE- Pigeons and Doves 



Since the extermination of the passenger pigeon, the mourning ("turtle") 

 dove is the most important member of this order, being abundant and wide- 

 spread. It is "preeminently a seed-eater." One stomach contained 7,500 

 wood sorrel seeds, another contained 6,400 foxtail seeds, another contained 

 9,200 miscellaneous seeds. Seeds constitute 64% of its diet (88). Likely the 

 band-tailed pigeon, which occurs sparingly in Colorado, and the other doves 

 and pigeons of the United States, have similar habits. In the destruction 

 of weed seeds these birds are very valuable, and they seldom molest crops 

 of any kind. 



RAPTORES -Eagles, Hawks, Owls and Vultures 



Hawks and owls have been persecuted more than any other group of 

 birds, under the false impression that they are all enemies of the poultry 

 raiser. Nearly all men seem to consider the killing of hawks a patriotic 

 service, as well as a mark of skill. Since the masterly study of the habits 

 of birds of this order by Fisher and others ((89) there is no longer any 

 excuse for ignorance of the usefulness of most species. 



Vultures, including the California condor, turkey vulture ("buzzard") 

 and black vulture, feed chiefly upon carrion, are very useful and should be 

 rigorously protected as scavengers. Their numbers in the West have been 

 greatly reduced by setting out poison for coyotes. 



Eagles are not plentiful enough to be of great economic importance, either 

 way. Fisher considers the useful and -harmful habits of the bald and golden 

 eagles about balanced. They destroy many harmful rodents, but also destroy 

 some young stock, game birds and fawns. The numerous stories of their 

 carrying off young children are nearly all without foundation. Fish is the 

 favorite food of the bald eagle, and contrary to general opinion it will eat 

 carrion. 



Nearly all of our hawks and owls are useful, some of them being con- 

 sidered among the most useful birds. Only 6 out of over 70 species and sub- 

 species in the United States are considered harmful : Gyrfalcon, duck hawk, 

 sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, goshawk and great horned owl. In 

 most states all except these are now protected by law, but it has not been 

 a great while since bounties were offered in many states for the destruction 

 of all the species. Cooper's hawk, a small species strongly marked with dark 

 stripes below, is "preeminently a chicken hawk," a name which has been 

 generally applied to the red-tailed hawk, red-shouldered hawk and other 

 large hawks which seldom touch poultry. The sharp-shinned hawk, still 

 smaller and marked by bars below, is as bad, except that it is too small to 

 take any but young chickens, so it takes an undue proportion of wild birds. 



(88) Judd, U. S. Dept. Agric., Yearbook for 1898, pp. 231-232. Butcher, Nat. Aud. 

 Soc., Educational Leaflet No. 2. Sullivan, Kas. St. Agric. Coll., Agricultural Education, 

 Vol. Ill, No. 7, p. 32. 



(89) Fisher, A. K., The Hawks and Owls of the United States In their Relation 

 to Agriculture, U. S. Dept. Agric., Div. Orn. & Mam., Bull. No. 3, 1893, 201 pages; 

 Hawks and Owls from the Standpoint of the Farmer, U. S. Dept. Agric., Yearbook for 

 1894, pp. 215-232 (revision in U. S. Biol. Surv. Circular No. 61, 1907). Oberholser, 

 Harry C., The North American Eagles and their Economic Relations, U. S. Biol. Surv., 

 Bull. No. 27, 1900. Keyes, Charles R., A History of Certain Great Horned Owls, The 

 Condor, Vol. XIII, pp. 5-19, 1911 ; reprinted in Ann. Rept. Smithsonian Inst. for 1911, 

 pp. 395-405, 1912. 



