44 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



acter and quantity of their food. By obtaining a knowledge 

 of the various components of the food and their comparative 

 amounts, we may form some judgment as to the comparative 

 value of beneficial birds to the farmer. Birds are useful or 

 injurious to agriculture according to the extent to which 

 they feed on the crops of the farmer, on animals useful to 

 him, or upon those which are injurious to his interests. 

 There are birds wdiich live almost entirely on injurious 

 insects, and do not attack any crop. Such birds are certainly 

 among the farmer's best friends. There are others which 

 live largely on injurious insects and weed seeds, and do not 

 materially injure any crop. Such birds are also eminently 

 useful to agriculture. There are omnivorous birds which are 

 often among the farmer's best friends, — destroying many of 

 his worst enemies, — yet they are at times very injurious, 

 attacking crops or poultry and destroying other beneficial 

 birds. Whether the omnivorous birds are beneficial or not 

 depends largely upon conditions and circumstances. To this 

 class crows and magpies belong. 



There is another class of birds which feeds almost entirely 

 upon animals. These, the Raptores, or birds of prey, always 

 have been classed by the majority of people among the arch 

 enemies of the farmer. Science and expert experience do 

 not, however, agree altogether with popular opinion on this 

 question. 



Hawks and Owls. 



Admitting that the eagles are injurious, let us consider 

 briefly the hawks and owls (F'alcomdoe and Strigidce) in 

 their relation to agriculture. It is only within recent years 

 that any information has been generally disseminated here 

 in regard to the usefulness of these birds. In England and 

 Scotland, howev^er, the value of certain hawks and owls 

 has been known for centuries. We find that in Stowe's 

 "Chronicle" in 1581 it is quaintly stated that "About 

 Hallowtide last past (1580) in the marshes of Danessy 

 Hundred in a place called South Minster in the County 

 of Essex there sodainlie appeared an infinite number of 

 field mice which overwhelming the whole earth in said 

 marshes did sheare and gnaw the grass by the rootes spoiling 

 and tainting the same with their venimous teeth in such sort, 

 that the cattell which grazed thereon were smitten with a 



