The Birds of Wyoming. 15 



upon that unsavory insect, the chinch-bug; and the number 

 of this pest that occasionally are destroyed by it is really as- 

 tonishing. No farmer or fruit-grower should ever kill a quail 

 himself nor allow anyone else to hunt it on his premises. 



"Our domestic fowls, save ducks and geese, from which 

 so much direct income is derived throughout the year, belong 

 here. It would be folly on my part to assert that they are 

 useless to the farmer. Besides furnishing eggs and meat for 

 the table, they are great aids in keeping down a variety of 

 iioxious insects during spring, summer and fall. 



"The various species of Doves or Pigeons are not, as a 

 rule, thought of as being especially harmful, yet repeated ex- 

 aminations of their stomach contents would indicate that their 

 food seldom, if ever, consists of anything but grains and vari- 

 ous kinds of seeds along with other particles of vegetation. 

 The good done by these birds as destroyers of weed seeds more 

 than pays for the harm done by them as grain-eaters. 



"Recent careful study with reference to the food habits 

 of Hawks and Owls carried on by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture go to show that these birds, with but few 

 €xceptions, are the farmer's friends rather than his enemies. 

 It appears that the good which they accomplish in the way 

 of destroying mice, gophers, rabbits and other small mam- 

 mals along with great quantities of noxious insects far exceeds 

 the possible harm they do by the occasional destruction of 

 poultry and other birds. A critical examination of the qctual 

 contents of about 2,700 stomachs of these birds showed that 

 only six of the seventy-three species found in the United States 

 are injurious. Three of these are so rare that they need not 

 be considered. Of the remaining three the Fish Hawk is only 

 indirectly injurious; hence but two remain to be considered, 

 ■viz-, the Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks. 'Omitting the 

 six species that feed largely on poultry and game, 2,212 stom- 

 achs were examined, of which 56 per cent contained mice and 

 other small mammals, 27 per cent insects, and only 3^ per 

 cent poultry and game birds.' 



