668 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



tacks on our insect foes to satisfy the 

 wants of their clamorous young" (see 

 page 671). "A nest with four young of 

 the chipping sparrow was watched at dif- 

 ferent hours on four days. In the seven 

 hours of observation 119 feedings were 

 noted, or an average of 17 feedings per 

 hour, or 4>4 feedings per hour to each 

 nesthng. This would give for a day of 

 14 hours at least 238 insects eaten by 

 the brood" (see page 682). 



Even our hawks and owls, with the 

 exception of Cooper's hawk (see page 

 694) and one or two others, are desir- 

 able, and their presence around a garden 

 or farm should be welcomed, because 

 with their voracious appetites they keep 

 down the numbers of mice and rats and 

 other pests which may torment the coun- 

 try home. As many as 100 grasshoppers 

 have been found in the stomach of a 

 Swainson's hawk, representing a single 

 meal; and in the retreat of a pair of 

 barn owls have been found more than 

 3,000 skulls, 97 per cent of which were 

 of mammals, the bulk consisting of field 

 mice, house mice, and common rats (see 

 page 670). 



A lack of knowledge of the value of 

 certain birds may prove disastrous and 

 cause the destruction of valuable birds 

 which cannot be replaced in years. Some 

 years ago the legislature of the State of 

 Pennsylvania offered a bounty on hawks 

 and owls, which resulted in the killing of 

 over 100,000 of these birds. As almost 

 all of those killed were beneficial, it was 

 calculated by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, then 

 chief of the U. S. Biological Survey, that 

 the State of Pennsylvania sustained a 

 loss of nearly four million dollars in 

 eighteen months. The legislature soon 

 realized its mistake and abolished the 

 bounty. 



Quite apart from any question of senti- 

 ment, the preservation of our bird life 

 is a matter of great national importance, 

 and every effort should be made to assist 

 our policemen of the air in keeping Na- 

 ture's balance true. 



The bird portraits in colors were 

 printed by the Sackett & Wilhelms Litho- 

 graph Company of Brooklyn, N. Y. 



UST OF BIRDS DESCRIBED AND INDEXJ 



Page 



Bluebird 673 



Robin 673 



Russet-backed thrush 674 



Ruby-crowned kinglet 674 



Chickadee 675 



White-breasted nuthatch 675 



Brown creeper 676 



House wren 676 



Brown thrasher 677 



Catbird 677 



Mocking bird 678 



Myrtle warbler 678 



Loggerhead shrike 679 ■ 



Barn swallow 679I 



Purple martin , 680I 



Black-headed grosbeak 680a 



Rose-breasted grosbeak 681 



Song sparrow 681 



Chipping sparrow 682 



White-crowned sparrow 682 



English sparrow 68^ 



Crow blackbird 68j 



Brewer's blackbird 68^ 



Bullock's oriole 6& 



Meadowlarks 685 



Red-winged blackbird 685 



Bobolink 686 



Common crow 686 



California jay 687 



Blue jay 687 



Horned lark 



Arkansas kingbird 68i 



Kingbird 68s 



Nighthawk 681 



Flicker 691 



Yellow-bellied sapsucker 69( 



Downy woodpecker 691 



Yellow-billed cuckoo 691 



Screech owl 69^ 



Barn owl 695 



Sparrow hawk 69; 



Red-tailed hawk 69; 



Cooper's hawk. . , 691 



Mourning dove ^ 



Ruffed grouse 69J 



Bobwhite 691 



Killdeer 69^ 



Upland plover ^ 



Black tern 69J 



Franklin's gull 69; 



