NATURAL HISTORY. 



AGAINST HAWKS AND OWLS. 



Oskaloosa, la. 



Editor Recreation: I wish to say a 

 few words regarding the protection of 

 hawks and owls, as suggested by a recent 

 writer. I have been a close student of 

 Nature for many years, and an especial 

 lover of the birds, and had many a fight 

 when a boy, in defense of the nests of 

 robin, blue bird, finch, thrush or other 

 song bird, from the assault of some young 

 ruffian who wanted to destroy them out of 

 pure cussedness. I have always believed — 

 and still have no reason to change my mind 

 — that the hawks and owls are the very 

 worst enemies the song birds have, and 

 even more destructive to our game birds 

 and small quadrupeds than the " game 

 hogs." I would only except 3 species of 

 the 2 famili-es; the others are the sharks of 

 the air. The first I would except is the 

 swallow tailed hawk, the most beautiful 

 and graceful, and fast becoming the most 

 rare of our native hawks. It is, to the best 

 of my belief, entirely harmless; living on 

 insects, which are generally taken in the 

 air. There was formerly a family of these 

 beautiful birds that nested year after year 

 on my father's farm in Van Buren County 

 in this State, so I had a good opportunity 

 to study their habits. I have frequently 

 lain for hours in the shade of a tree watch- 

 ing their graceful evolutions and long 

 swoops of 1,000 feet or more. Their flight 

 is surely the very poetry of motion. Being 

 unmolested they became very tame and 

 would come from high in the air and take 

 a locust or other large insect within a few 

 feet of me. 



The other 2 species that I would except 

 from my anathema are the sparrow hawks 

 and screech owls. They each have a few 

 counts against their characters, but on the 

 whole have a pretty good record. They 

 each sometimes destroy small birds when 

 mice and insects afe scarce, but as they 

 also kill the pestiferous English sparrow I 

 am inclined to forgive them. All the 

 others, so far as I know, are bloodthirsty 

 pirates and sneaks and should be exter- 

 minated. 



I have frequently, almost, domesticated 

 quails by scattering grain where they could 

 get it during bad winter weather, and have 

 seen with sorrow the number of my pets 

 growing smaller and smaller each day, and 

 knew a hawk somewhere in the vicinity 

 was the murderer. Then I would com- 

 mence planning to right the wrong, and 

 Mr. Hawk usually atoned for his crimes 

 with his life. If his favorite perch was 

 where I could not get within shooting dis- 

 tance, I would pursue the following plan: 

 I would select a low spreading tree in an 



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open field, then cut a good sized pole long 

 enough to reach a few feet above the top- 

 most branches of the tree, nail a board 5 

 or 6 inches square on the top of the 

 pole, set it up through, lash it fast to the 

 tree, and place a steel trap on top with 

 the chain attached to the pole. The first 

 hawk or owl that came that way was nearly 

 certain to stop there and look for a vic- 

 tim, with the result that he never got any 

 farther. In case there is no tree to lash 

 the pole to it can be set firmly in the 

 ground, with cross pieces nailed on, by 

 which to ascend and place the trap in po- 

 sition; or a short pole set in the top of a 

 stack of hay will answer every purpose. 

 The more distant the trap is from other 

 convenient perches the more numerous 

 will be the captures. Now when we con- 

 sider that a hawk requires a quail, or about 

 its equivalent each day, and an owl a little 

 more, it is easy to see what a number of 

 birds' lives we save in a year by the de- 

 struction of a single specimen. If a small 

 percentage of the bird lovers among our 

 boys would adopt the foregoing plan, or if 

 our sportsmen would encourage the coun- 

 try boys of their acquaintance by furnish- 

 ing each with a cheap steel trap, or offering 

 a small bounty, and instructing them how 

 to proceed, there would soon be an aston- 

 ishing increase in our game and song birds. 

 This plan, however, is only feasible after 

 the fall migrations and before the birds 

 return in spring, because in summer, when 

 woods and fields are full of birds, the trap 

 would make victims of too many of the 

 little beauties we are planning to protect. 



L. C. Elerick. 



LET US SAVE 'JUL r.UFFALO. 



Wichita, Kan. 



Editor Recreation: From time imme- 

 morial the heart of the hunter has sighed 

 for the wild, untrodden paths; for trackless 

 forests, for rugged mountain and meander- 

 ing stream; for complete isolation, from 

 the busy work-a-day world. Time was 

 when this broad continent was one mag- 

 nificent game preserve, abounding in game 

 of every kind. The " happy hunting 

 ground " which was the dream of the 

 aborigines who roamed at will over the 

 wilderness and plain, within whose borders 

 they hoped to continue the pleasures of the 

 chase after death, was only a duplicate of 

 their terrestrial domain. They could con- 

 ceive of no happier experience than fell to 

 their daily lot. 



Then came the conquering Caucasian 

 with his implements of husbandry, his won- 

 derful appliances of mechanical skill and 

 his death-dealing firearms. The conqueror 



