400 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 92 



question of the value of these birds to the hunter of small 

 varieties of feathered game in this country. We may omit 

 any other kind of game that the sportsman pursues, as hares, 

 rabbits, squirrels, and the like, for they can only be taken by 

 the lairger species of owls, and often with advantage to man, 

 as in the case of Jack Rabbits, and so on. There is no doubt 

 in the world but that the owls in this country, of many spe- 

 cies and of all sizes, in the course of a year capture and con- 

 sume a good many game-birds of all kinds. It is simply as 

 birds of prey that the}- do this, however, and with the sole 

 object of sustaining life. Moreover, it is only the medium 

 sized and larg'er owls that capture such game bird as quails, 

 grouse, turkeys, and so on, though the smaller species may 

 prey upon the young of such game occasionally. Man, how- 

 ever, is the great destroyer of game-birds of all species ; and 

 between his gun and his traps he is gradually, but with 

 marked certainty, exterminating all such species in the world's 

 avifauna, just as he did the wild pigeon in the last half cen- 

 tury. 



An average gunner who hunts regularly will kill more 

 feathered game in one season than any species of owl will in 

 the course of its natural life-time ; so that, when we come to 

 compare the number of owls in the country with the number 

 of men who habitually hunt and kill feathered game, it is safe 

 to say that we may almost reckon the amount of destruction 

 along such lines by the former as practically ////. 



Audubon, who published something in regard to the habits 

 of a few of our owls, says that the food of the big Snowy 

 owl " consists of hares, squirrels, rats, and fishes " ; but that 

 "it, also watches the traps set for muskrats, and devours the 

 animals caught in them." Of the Burrowing owl he says : 

 " They are strictly diurnal, feed principally upon grasshop- 

 pers and crickets, and, according to the Indians, sometimes 

 upon field-mice " ; while with respect to the Acadian owd, he 

 fails to mention what its food consists of, though he figures 

 it with what appears to be a mouse in its talons. 



In the case of the Barn owl. he says that "After long ob- 



