SNOWY OWL, BUKEOWING OWL AND OSPEEY 



225 



pears to exist a modus vivendi, which is good so 

 long as the bird does not come within reach of 

 the legitimate owner of the soil. As already 

 mentioned (page 77), when the two are inti- 

 mately mixed, the prairie-'' dog" quickly kills 

 the Burrowing Owl. It seems practically cer- 

 tain that the bird inhabits only the mouth of 

 the prairie-" dog's " burrow, or burrows that 

 have been abandoned. 



This owl is far too small to kill even a half- 

 grown "dog;" besides which, its favorite diet 

 is grasshoppers, locusts, other insects, lizards 

 and scorpions. It is to be noticed that in thirty- 

 two stomachs examined in Washington, one 

 really did contain a portion of a prairie-" dog," 

 and two contained one mouse each, but thirty- 

 tliree contained insects only, some of them 

 showing from forty-nine to sixty each of locusts 

 and grasshoppers. 



The color of a Burrowing Owl is a grayish 

 mixture, darkest on the back, and lighter belowi 

 and the legs are long and naked, like those of a 

 sharp-shinned hawk. In captivity our specimens 

 dug extensive burrows for themselves, in doing 

 which they threw out gravel and earth with 

 astonishing force. They are savage little wretch- 

 es, and murder each other at a shocking rate. 

 The males fight savagely, and the western spe- 

 cies will not live peaceably with that of Florida. 



THE HAWKS AND EAGLES. 



Falconidae. 



This section of the Order Raptores contains 

 a remarkable assemblage of forms, and the wide 

 differences between some of the groups add 

 zest to the study of them. Some are expert in 

 fishing, some are of dignified and imposing bear- 

 ing, some have beauty of plumage, and one is 

 the most beautiful flyer in all the bird-world. 

 Until only ten years ago, most people regarded 

 all hawks as so many robbers, deserving death. 



In 1893, the investigations of the Department 

 of Agriculture revealed the surprising fact that 

 of all the forty-one species of day-flying birds 

 of prey in North America, there were only four 

 species whose destructiveness so far outweigh 

 their useful services that they deserve to be de- 

 stroyed. The others are either harmless to 

 man's interests, or else so positively beneficial 

 that they deserve careful protection. Beyond 



doubt, the careful and thorough investigations 

 made by the Biological Survey, under the di- 

 rection of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, and the publi- 

 cation of the results, have resulted in the cor- 

 rection of popular errors which if persisted in 

 would have caused enormous losses to the farm- 

 ers of the United States. 



As an object lesson, take the case of Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



In 1885, the legislature of that State enacted 

 a law aimed at the wholesale destruction of 

 hawks and owls, and authorizing the various 

 counties to pay cash boimties for the "scalps" 

 of those birds, at the rate of fifty cents each. 

 Immediately the work of slaughter began. Many 

 thousand scalps of hawks and o'wls were brought 

 in, and over $90,000 were paid out for them. 

 It has been estimated that the "saving" to the 

 agricultural interests of the state amounted to 

 $1 for every $1,205 paid out as bounties! In 

 this manner the balance of Nature was quickly 

 and completely destroyed. 



The awakening came even more swiftly than 

 anyone expected. By the end of two years 

 from the passage of the very injudicious "hawk 

 law," the farmers found their field-crops and 

 orchards so completely overrun by destructive 

 mice, rats and insects, they appealed to the 

 legislature for the quick repeal of the law. This 

 was brought about with all possible hastei It 

 was estimated by competent judges that the 

 "hawk law" cost the farmers and fruit-growers 

 of Pennsylvania not less than $2,000,000 in 

 actual losses on valuable crops. 



The moral of this episode is, — it is always 

 dangerous, and often calamitous, to disturb violently 

 the balance of Nature, either by the destruction of 

 existing species of birds or mammals, or by the in- 

 troduction of new ones. 



The American Osprey, or Fish-Hawk,' 

 is, by common consent, regarded as a sort of 

 connecting link between the Owl and Falcon 

 FamiUes. It is a good bird to lead a large Fam- 

 ily, and it is to be regretted that those who dwell 

 far from the sea-coast and large rivers lack op- 

 portunities for becoming well acquainted with 

 it. Surely this bold fisher, who thinks nothing 

 of dropping a hundred feet into ice-cold water, 

 seizing a fish of nearly half his own weight, and 



' Pan'di-on haUi-ae-e'tus carolinensis. Average 

 length, about 24 inches ; weight, 3 pounds. 



