ORDER XII. VULTURES, HAWKS, AND OWLS. 
RAPTORES. 
Family 1. AMERICAN VULTURES. CarTHartip#. 3 species. 
Family 2. FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, etc. Farconipa. 33 
species, 13 subspecies. 
Family 3. BARN OWLS. Srricipa. 1 species. 
Family 4. HORNED OWLS. Busonip#. 19 species, 20 sub- 
species. 
In the Raptores we have a group of birds of great value to man but 
_ whose services for the most part, are so little appreciated that, far from 
protecting these birds, we have actually persecuted them. 
The Vultures. itis true, are given credit for their good work as 
scavengers and they are protected both by law and by public sentiment. 
Every one knows that a living Vulture is infinitely more useful than a 
dead one. As aresult throughout countries inhabited by these birds 
they are usually both abundant and tame, entering the cities to feed 
in the streets with an assurance born of years of immunity from harm. 
But how differently their kin of the family Falconid# act in their 
relations to man! ‘Wild asa Hawk’ has become an adage. These 
birds are universally condemned. To kill one is a commendable act. 
Every ones hand is raised against them. In some localities a price 
has actually been set upon their heads. 
A fondness for chickens, it is alleged, is the chief crime of Hawks, 
and in popular parlance all Hawks are ‘Chicken Hawks’ and as such 
are to be killed on sight. 
Naturalists have long been aware that only one of our common 
Hawks habitually preys upon poultry while most of our species, by 
feeding largely on meadow mice, are actually beneficial. It was not, 
however, until this matter received the attention of the Biological 
Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture, that the 
economic status of Hawks, as well as of Owls, was placed on a sound 
scientific basis. In Dr. A. K. Fisher’s report on the food of Hawks 
and Owls, issued by the Biologic Survey in 1893, the results of 
the examination of the contents of several thousands stomachs of these 
birds is tabulated. Itis stated, for example, that only three out of 
two hundred and twenty stomachs of the so-called ‘Chicken’ or Red- 
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