BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 61 



ticularly work by night and hence the benefits they confer are easily 

 overlooked. 



k> The Sparrow Hawk is one of the most harmless of birds and one 

 of the most beneficial to man. He lives almost exclusively upon 

 grasshoppers and crickets, and the number of the former destroyed 

 by these birds is incalculable. 



" I mention the Cooper's and Sharp- shinned Hawks last because they 

 unquestionably kill many small birds, and they also commit depreda- 

 tions upon the poultry yard. I believe, however, they can safely be 

 left to be dealt with by the class they injure, chiefly poultry men. To 

 place all the Hawks and Owls under ban, and to attempt their exter- 

 mination simply because one or two species are injurious is certainly 

 not good policy. 



"After more than twenty years study of birds I am decidedly of the 

 opinion that the Hawks and Owls as a class are of great economic 

 value, and tnat no State in which agriculture is pursued to any extent 

 can afford to dispense with their services. They not only ought not 

 to be exterminated, but they should be placed upon the list of birds 



protected by law. 



" I am, very truly yours, 



"H. W. HENSHAW. 



" WASHINGTON, D. C., March 81, 1886. 

 u Dn. B. H. WARREN: 



" DEAR SIR : Responding to your request for my opinion respect- 

 ing the usefulness of Hawks and Owls, regarded from an agricultural 

 or other economic standpoint, I beg to say that I consider these birds 

 highly beneficial and worthy of protective legislation. 



"The number of poultry and of useful insectivorous birds which 

 Hawks and Owls destroy is insignificant in comparison with the quan- 

 tity of noxious rodents which they consume. Owls are particularly 

 serviceable in this respect, and next after them come the Buzzards. 

 Most birds of prey likewise consume enormous numbers of insects, 

 among which is a large proportion of noxious kinds. 

 u Very truly yours, 



"ELLIOTT COUES, 



" V. P. A. O. U., etc. 



" SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 

 "WASHINGTON, D. <X March 3, 1886. 

 " B. H. WARREN, M. D., Ornithologist Pennsylvania State Board of 



Agriculture, West Chester, Pa. : 



" DEAR SIR : Your letter of recent date requesting my opinion of 

 the act (No. 109) of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania relative to 



