Plainfield, New Jersey, Bird Census 403 



There is no question but that the Great-horned owl preys 

 upon feathered game of all kinds, but the bird by no means 

 confines itself to that line of diet, for it is equally fond of 

 many of the medium sized and smaller mammals, as opos- 

 sums, rats, squirrels, young hares, rabbits, etc., and it will, 

 when occasion offers, consume dead fish when washed ashore, 

 in which habit he is surely performing a public service. 



Audubon does not say a word about the food of the Screech 

 owl, beyond the fact that it " pursues large beetles " ; while 

 on the other hand he devotes the major share of his account 

 of the bird to mixing up fact and tradition in regard to its 

 two phases of plumage, and taking Wilson to task in regard 

 to what he said about it. 



Taking everything into consideration, then, with respect to 

 the habits and food of owls, as such matters affect the wel- 

 fare of man, it is perfectly safe to say, in truth, that upon 

 the whole these birds are good friends to our race in the long 

 run, and fully deserving of our protection and encourage- 

 ment. To persistently destroy these birds would be a griev- 

 ous error, as in practically all cases where man has upset the 

 balance of nature, it has generally reacted, in boomrang 

 fashion, by giving him a fearful rap for his pains. 



PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, BIRD CENSUS. 



BY W. DEW. MILLER AND CHARLES H. ROGERS. 



In 1914 we were accompanied by Dr. William H. Wieg- 

 mann. We started at 3:50 a. m. from East 7th Street and 

 walked northward across the city and took a devious route 

 through and over the Watchung Mountains to the Passaic 

 River, up whose south bank we went to the Dead River, and 

 up it half a mile to a certain marsh, which we reached just 

 at sunset. Thence we took the shortest road back to North 

 Plainfield, where we boarded a car at 10 p. m., except that 

 W. DeW. M. lingered on the way to listen to the Virginia 

 Rail and got in somewhat later. Weather fine; cool N. W. 



