BIRDS OF PREY 27 



work away in the veld and forest, should be shot out 

 in their native haunts. An individual dog sometimes 

 acquires the habit of worrying sheep, and has therefore 

 to be destroyed, but we do not think it necessary to 

 decree a wholesale massacre of all the other dogs on that 

 account. The majority of people are, however, quite 

 callous and ignorant as regards the ways of wild creatures, 

 and do not take the trouble to ascertain whether many 

 of them are not among their best friends ; it is easier, 

 and more in accordance with accepted custom, to kill 

 them all at sight. 



All the harriers, the bateleur, as well as the larger 

 eagles, are great snake eaters, and they, like owls of all 

 kinds, do tremendous work among the swarming rats 

 and mice. Even if some of them do take toll from the 

 game and smaller birds, it is not nearly so great as that 

 levied by the snakes and rats which they destroy, since 

 both the latter are dire foes to both eggs and nestling 

 birds. 



In fact, man ought to be very careful how he interferes 

 with the balance of Nature lest he find himself in the end 

 a sufferer by his own act. Here is an extract from the 

 year-book of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 which deserves attention : 



" The sooner farmers, ranchmen, horticulturists, and 

 nurserymen learn that the great majority of the birds 

 of prey are their friends, and deserve protection, and 

 that only four or five species are injurious, the sooner 

 will the depredations by noxious rodents and insects 

 diminish. 



" In the more thickly settled portions of the country, 

 except at rare intervals, the goshawk, the duck-hawk, 

 and the great horned owl are so infrequent that years 

 may pass without an individual being seen. . . . The 



