BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



Order RAF»XORES 



Birds of prey 



Ordinal characters. Bill stout, epignathous, hooked at the tip, cered 

 at the base; feet strong, usually with long, curved talons; the skull des- 

 mognathos and holorhinal; sternum broad and deeply keeled; furculum 

 U-shaped; ambiens muscle present except in owls; the biceps slip wanting; 

 the oil gland nude; wings aquincubital ; 2 carotids; crop large; regimen 

 carnivorous; flight powerful; young downy but remaining long in the nest. 



While it is true that the so-called raptorial birds may be recognized 



as related in the characters stated above, it is evident that the order is 



rather loosely connected and many ornithologists would prefer to separate 



at least the owls, and some the American vultures, into independent orders. 



The American Ornithologists Union, however, still recognizes the order 



as given above. On account of their rapacious habits they are associated 



more in the popular mind than they are in scientific classification. They 



have always received much attention from the agriculturist and, with 



the exception of the vultures, have almost universally been considered 



injurious species. I have found very few communities in the State of 



New York where even the Rough-legged hawk is recognized as beneficial 



in spite of the fact that Doctor Fisher's admirable work on hawks and 



owls has been in print for many years. A careful study of the economic 



value of Raptores has been undertaken by the Biological Survey, as 



well as by ornithologists throughout the country, and a fairly accurate 



estimate of their food can be made. The following table, compiled 



mostly from the reports of the Biological Survey, but also from many 



notes made by the author and other New York ornithologists, will show 



the exact composition, as far as it has been determined by dissection, by 



the examination of the stomach balls collected under owl trees and hawk 



trees, and by observation of the birds in the field. The fact that two or 



three kinds of food are frequently found in the same stomach explains 



the fact that the percentage of stomachs containing each variety of food 



will not add up to one hundred, but it is thought more instructive to show 



6i 



