When ray friend sees a hawk beiitj.Hg b^clc and forth over a harvest field 

 or meadow, or glimpses an owl flying g^lentiy over his orchard, he gets mad 

 clear through. He never stops to inquire whether that is the same kind of 

 hawk or same kind of owl that pounced on his chickens. Some of those ha.7ks 

 my friend has seen tirelessly beating back and forth over his harvest fields 

 were probably working for him and not against him. They help keep down the 

 insect and rodent enemies of his crops i Some hawks destroy game birds and 

 poultry* But not even all of those deserve the bad name they have been given. 



Mr. McAtee says that most hawks and owls are actually more beneficial 

 than injurious. Even some of those that do take chickens, more than make up 

 for their bam- yard raids, by steady work in the fields clearing out some of 

 our crop enemies. 



As Mr. McAtee explains it, this question of whether or not we class a 

 bird as good or bad depends largely on what the bird eats. Mr. McAtee and 

 other scientists of the United States Biological Survey have inside informa- 

 tion on this subject. They base their conclusions on analyses of the food 

 foTond in the stomachs of hundreds of birds, as well as long observation of 

 the live birds in the field and woods. They Imow their subjects inside and 

 out . 



Mr. McAtee tells us that birds of prey, such as hawks and owls, are 

 big eaters. 3very day they eat a great q-uantity of food compared to their ovm 

 body weight. Tlie hawks hunt by day and keep the day-time mammals in check. 

 An owl's eyesight is keenest during twili^t and before dawn. The owls cc^ture 

 many of the crop pests that roam around at night. Ov;ls are less migratory 

 than ha7/ks and dniring the winter they wage incessant warfare against the enemies 

 of orchards, and gardens, and harvest field. 



But don't misunderstand me, Mr. McAtee doesn't claim that all owls are 

 more helpf-ol than otherwise. For instance, he admits that the great horned 

 owl does like a chicken dinner, and is not at all backward about taking it. 



However, he reminds us that the great horned owls, like most of its 

 relatives, feeds at night. He can only capture the chickens that arc not 

 properly protected. If you prevent the great homed owl from getting at the 

 chickens, Mr, McAtee would also class the horned owl as largely beneficial 

 rather than injurious. 



Among the hawks, Mr. McAtee finds the sharp- shinned hawk, Cooper's 

 hawk, duck hawk, and the goshawk correctly regarded as chiefly injurious from 

 our viewpoint. Those are the hawks that feed so largely on birds, on game 

 birds and domesticated birds, such as chickens. 



Mr. McAtoe points out that you can tell the bad hawks from the good by 

 the way they fly. The bad bird hawks fly swiftly over trees and bushes and 

 make sudden darts upon their prey. From the way they pounce on their prey 

 and on acco^jnt of their color, three kinds of bird hawks are often known as 

 blue darters. 



Hawks that are chiefly beneficial fly differently from those darting 

 hawks. The good hawks either soar at considerable height or hover over places 

 where they are h-unting their prey. They prey largely on meadow mice, but their 

 bill-of-fare incl-ades a lot of other destructive pests such as rabbits, ground 

 squirrels, prairie dogs, pocket gophers, and house rate and mice. 



