Vol. III. JANUARY, 1897. No. I. 



THE lOWAN RAPT0RE5. 



By CHAS. R. KEYES, President Iowa Ornithological Association. 



Paper read before the Secoud Congress of I. O. A. 



THERE seems to be a general opinion prevailing, especially among farmers 

 and sportsmen, that all birds of prey do more harm than good, and are, con- 

 sequently, worthy of death wherever and whenever one may have an opportunity 

 to inflict it. If this is not the case, then the actions of these classes of men are, 

 in the great majority of cases, opposed to their beliefs. It is seldom indeed that 

 a chance to kill a hawk or an owl is thrown away by the average sportsman or 

 farmer's boy. The experience of the writer, such as it has been, has, as yet, 

 failed to find a farmer who was unwilling to have nests and eggs of these birds 

 taken from his premises. On the contrary, information is gladly given as to the 

 whereabouts of the nests of these species in the hope that a new crop of the 

 "pests" may be avoided. It might be added here, by the way of parenthesis, 

 that the farmer's "benefactor" generally failed to give in return the informar 

 tion that the same pair of birds would, in a few days, have another nest under 

 process of construction in the same or immediate vicinity. 



It will be the object of tliis discussion to try to prove or disprove the value 

 to the farmer of raptorial birds, confining our study for the sake of narrowing 

 down the subject, to the raptorial birds either resident, migratory, or casual to 

 the state of Iowa. It is believed that the following hst of thirty species is 

 complete for this purpose, and it will be our object to consider briefly each of 

 these species by itself and try to reach a conclusion as to whether, on the whole, 

 it is a benefit or a detriment to agricultural interests. 



The influence of birds of prey on agriculture is in a large per cent of cases 

 indirectly and only to be ascertained by the study of smaller birds, insects and 

 smaller mammals destroyed by them for food purposes. It will, then, be nec- 

 essary to assurae that certain small animals are a benefit to agriculture and 

 that others are obnoxious. This will be allowed without much difficulty. It 

 will, in general, be conceded that our small field birds, as thrushes, sparrows, 

 wrens, warblers, flycatchers, larks, etc., are of direct or indirect benefit to 

 agriculture ; and that many, probably most of our small field mammals, as field 

 mice, rats, ground squirrels, gophers, rabbits, shrews, etc., are of direct detri- 

 ment to it. In our discussion of the merits and demerits of the following 

 species of birds of prey it will be necessary to keep in mind this general de- 

 struction. 



{1)—Cathartes aura. TURKEY VULTURE. 



This bird influences agriculture mainly through its office as a scavenger 

 and in this capacity doubtless performs a kindly ser\dce in the removal of all 

 sorts of carrion, which remaining, would produce disease both in man and in 



