written and spoken against him but a 

 careful examination of facts goes to dis- 

 prove this. He does destroy eggs and 

 sometimes young birds. But on the 

 other side he has a good appetite for in- 

 jurious insects. He is quick to adopt 

 any new food so he is particularly valu- 

 able should any new kind of insects arise. 



While we are speaking of jays let us 

 examine the actual facts about crows. 

 They have a weakness for sprouting corn, 

 eggs of different kinds, watermelons and 

 roasting-ears. But they also destroy 

 countless insects besides some fieldmice. 

 One writer speaks of a field that had its 

 crop of hay destroyed by some pest. The 

 crows got after the pest and treated the 

 field much as a flock of chickens would. 

 In August they live principally on grass- 

 hoppers. From a purely business point 

 of view it would be advisable to protect 

 them unless some one falls from grace 

 and gets to eating eggs, in which case 

 the old shot-gun had better be hunted up. 



I believe of all our birds I have more 

 genuine love for the bob-white than any 

 other. He is so strong and breezy in 

 manner, has such a fine voice and is so 

 cool and confident. Unlike so many 

 others he thrives best in civilization. He 

 and the farmer should protect each 

 other : the latter, from noxious insects : 

 the former, from noxious hunters. There 

 are few prettier sights than that of a 

 family of young quail. Such cunning 

 little balls of down, and how confidently 

 they walk, secure in their mother's pro- 

 tection. Their value as insect destroyers 

 is very great. Few birds equal them in 

 this. 



Among other resident birds that add 

 a coloring to the white landscape of win- 

 ter is the cardinal grosbeak. Unfor- 

 tunately he is well known in cities, for 

 such a striking bird with such a strong 

 voice can not long escape the ravages of 

 bird collectors. So only too frequently 

 we hear his loud clear whistle from the 

 veranda or open window of some city 

 dweller. He and the blue jay make a 

 pretty picture when seen against the snow 

 covered trees or bushes. Considered as 

 an economic factor in farm-life the gros- 

 beak ranks high. I lis diet of insects, 

 bugs and seeds is beneficial to both 

 farmer and horticulturist. 



In strong contrasMo the joyful song of 

 the cardinal is that 'of the mourning or, 

 as we call it about here, the turtle-dove. 

 Though more common in summer, it is 

 a resident. The food consumed is grain, 

 probably waste, weed-seeds, beech-nuts, 

 acorns, with a great amount of insects 

 and worms. 



All hawks are under a ban in the gen- 

 eral mind. Every farmer thinks he has 

 done a good deed when he has shot one. 

 This is true of some species, the sharp- 

 shinned, Cooper's, and the goshawk. For 

 though they destroy some enemies of the 

 farmer, the harm they do to poultry and 

 small birds makes their destruction ad- 

 visable. But this is not true of some 

 others such as the red-shouldered, red- 

 tailed, broad-winged and sparrow hawk. 

 It is true that in all species there are 

 some rascals as well as rascals in human 

 kind. And whenever one of these falls 

 into the error of visiting the chicken- 

 yard daily, it is the duty of the good-man 

 of the house to shoot him. I can see no 

 justification in the indiscriminate slaugh- 

 ter of the hawk as now carried on. Ex- 

 amination of stomachs has shown that the 

 red-shouldered and red-tailed are highly 

 beneficial. Two-hundred twenty stom- 

 achs showed that one and one-half per 

 cent of the food eaten was poultry or 

 small birds, sixty-five per cent consists 

 of small rodents, while they and noxious 

 insects amount to ninety per cent. These 

 valuable birds deserve and should enjoy 

 the protection of every farmer. 



Perhaps in closing it may be well to 

 say a word about owls. Since they are 

 nocturnal, most people know very little 

 about them. Probably the most common 

 about here are the barred or hoot, and 

 screech owls. Nearly every season a 

 brood is raised in a certain part of our 

 woods. Investigation shows that these 

 two eat very little poultry or small birds. 

 The great horned owl destroys more, but 

 only a small part of its food is not injuri- 

 ous, or is at least neutral to the farmer. 



Careful study and examination shows 

 that the farmer has a host of friends in 

 our common birds. They do not particu- 

 larly work to help us any more than we 

 do to help them. Each is involuntarily 

 a help to the other. 



Warkkn Higgins. 



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