His attitude goes even so far as to include the rough-legged 

 hawk, whose very name causes farmers to reach for their shot- 

 guns. This saddens Mr. Burleigh greatly. He has found hawks 

 among the finest pest-control experts in feathers. They keep field 

 mice in line, and when they attack they go after sick and injured 

 animals first. Moreover, they dispose of the bodies of dead ani- 

 mals and help prevent disease in field and forest. 



Not long before Christmas, Mr. Burleigh had a rather ironical 

 experience with a rough-legged hawk. A forestry student at the 

 University of Idaho had found the body of one of these predators 

 hanging from a farmer's fence. Whoever had shot that bird had 

 hung it up as a lesson to other hawks or a symbol of his contempt 

 for them. Mr. Burleigh opened the bird up to examine its last 

 meal. This had consisted of exactly twelve mice. The irony lay 



75 



