146 



THE OOLOGIST 



ular government organizations whose 

 work it is to destroy rats, but all over 

 the country we are killing owls which 

 prey upon rats! 



Rats not only consume hundreds of 

 tons of grain in the United States 

 every year but they likewise climb 

 our fruit trees and eat any quantity 

 of all kinds of fruit, of which they 

 are very fond. They ruin houses; 

 kill hundreds of people by spreading 

 disease; flood farm lands by opening 

 dikes; set houses on fire by nibbling 

 matches; eat thousands of eggs; kill 

 poultry; eat dressed meats and provi- 

 sions by the ton; and they kill and 

 eat all kinds of small pets and game. 



It has been shown that, upon the 

 whole, the cat is a perfect failure as 

 a destroyer of rats; while, were owls 

 sufficiently numerous, they would de- 

 stroy thousands every month. Farm- 

 ers all over the land should favor the 

 introduction and subsequent protec- 

 tion of all medium-sized owls, the 

 American Owl in particultr. 



The months of October, November 

 and December are the months of mi- 

 gration for the Hawk family and 

 thousands of them wing their way 

 southward. Most of those passing in 

 October and early November are the 

 Swainson Hawk, which is about the 

 size of a large Redtail and has a white 

 breast with a dark band across it. 

 This bird is wholly harmless, easy to 

 approach, fearless, and is ruthlessly 

 killed by those who desire to destroy 

 "chicken hawks," with little knowl- 

 edge of the fact that they are destroy- 

 ing one of their real good servants. 



Later in the fall and winter, the 

 large Northern Hawks are to be seen 

 sitting about on the fences and trees 

 watching for furred animals, which is 

 their natural food. These birds are 

 harmless as to poultry, and should 

 never be killed. They are usually 

 larger than our big Redtail Hawk, gen- 

 erally have a white breast and a dark 

 brownish or black face and wing; 

 sometimes they are seen with the dark 

 plumage throughout, both above and 

 below. 



It is to be hoped that some day the 

 prejudice of the general public against 

 Hawks and Owls as a class will be 

 overcome, and that those who desire 

 to kill for the fun of killing will be 

 curbed. 



Ninety per cent, of the Red-tail 

 Hawks in Marshall county have been 

 killed off in the last twenty years, and 

 we now have four times as many field 

 mice and ground squirrels, moles, 

 gophers and the like as we had twen- 

 ty years ago as the result of this bar- 

 barous practice. 



It is to be hoped that some day the 

 laws against those who kill for the 

 mere pleasure of killing will be en- 

 forced and that the general public will 

 then take the trouble to inform itself 

 as to the difference between a harm- 

 less and beneficial Redtail Hawk and 

 a smaller, longer, slimmer Cooper 

 Hawk; and also of the difference be- 

 tween the harmless and beneficial 

 Barred Owl and of the destructive 

 Great Horned Owl. 



Not long since a citizen of Lacon, 

 who makes great pretensions as to 

 piety, enjoyed the sensation of ruth- 

 lessly murdering four little young, 

 harmless Screech Owls for the pure 

 sake and fun of killing them. These 

 birds are classed by the Government 

 as being among by far the most bene- 

 ficial of all birds found in North 

 America. It is to be hoped that this 

 killer, when he thinks of the great 

 service he did to his community by 

 destroying these harmless, beneficial 

 little young birds will be satisfied witii 

 what his own conscience tells him of 

 the work. R. M. Barnes. 



The Lazy Bird. 



Cowbirds have either become un- 

 usually lazy or else overworked in this 

 locality this year. June 21st of this 

 year I found a fresh Cowbird egg in 

 a Goldfinch nest that must have been 



