BIRDS OF PREY. 29 



A hasty examination of the various State laws will show that the 

 tide of popular prejudice has, however, begun to turn, and some effort 

 is now being made to distinguish the useful from the injurious birds 

 of prey. Nine States and the District of Columbia protect turkey 

 buzzards, three States forbid the killing of eagles, one protects fish 

 hawks, while one prohibits the killing of any hawks or owls. In addi- 

 tion, buzzards, owls, and certain hawks are included by implication in 

 the list of species protected in Illinois, Minnesota, and New York. 



It is somewhat surprising that the value of turkey buzzards is not more 

 generally recognized. They are specifically protected in Maryland, the 

 District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, 

 Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming, but protection should be accorded 

 them by all the States in the South and Southwest as well as the Terri- 

 tories of Arizona and New Mexico. According to Chapman,^ "their 

 services as scavengers are invaluable." The work of these birds at 

 Charleston, S. C, is well known, and the high estimation in which they 

 are there held is shown by the fact that a fine of |10 apiece is imposed 

 for killing them. The penalty in Texas ranges from |6 to |15, but 

 about one-fourth of the counties in the State are exempt from the oper- 

 ation of the law. The term ' turkey buzzard ' includes not only the true 

 turkey buzzard {Oathartes aura), but also the black vulture or carrion 

 crow {Catharista urubti)^ which is found in the South Atlantic and 

 Gulf States, where the two species often associate together. The laws 

 of Texas and Virginia are apparently the only ones which distinguish 

 the two species and mention, the one, the ' carrion crow ' and, the 

 other, the ' black buzzard ' in addition to the turkey buzzard. 



The protection of eagles is probably based on sentimental rather 

 than economic grounds, and is inspired by a desire to insure against 

 extermination the bird which has been adopted as the national emblem. 

 Ohio includes eagles in its list of protected species and Connecticut 

 protects them by a special law, while New Hampshire has prohibited 

 the killing of any bald eagles before 1902 under a penalty of $40. 



In the protection of hawks and owls nearly all the States are notice- 

 ably conservative, and few mention these birds in the list of protected 

 species. Illinois extends protection to all birds with the exception of 

 'chicken hawks' and a few other species, New York to 'wild birds' 

 except hawks and a few others, and Minnesota to 'harmless birds' 

 except hawks, crows, blackbirds, and English sparrows. Rhode Island 

 extends protection to fish hawks, while Utah is the only State which 

 goes so far as to protect all hawks and owls. 



In reality, so far from being injurious, the great majority of the 

 birds of prey in the United States are decidedly beneficial. Of the 90 



1 Birds Eastern N. Am., p. 192, 1895. 



