202 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 160 



be here presented. Mr. B. H. Warren, a well- 

 known ornithologist, in a paper entitled ' What 

 hawks eat,' published in a recent report of the 

 Pennsylvania board of agriculture, states, respect- 

 ing the red-tailed hawk (Buteo borealis), — the 

 'hen-hawk' par excellence of eastern North 

 America, — that an examination of the stomachs 

 of one hundred and one examples of this species 

 " revealed in eighty-one chiefly mice and small 

 quadrupeds, also some small birds ; nine, chickens : 

 three, quail ; two, rabbits ; one, a part of a skunk ; 

 one, a red squirrel ; one, a gray squirrel ; three, 

 snakes." In the stomachs of thirty-four red-shoul- 

 dered hawks (B. lineatus) examined were found, 

 in twenty-three, mice, small quadrupeds, grass- 

 hoppers, and coleopterous insects ; in nine, frogs 

 and insects ; in the remaining two, small birds, 

 hair, and orthopterous insects. Of twelve broad- 

 winged hawks (B. latissimus), four contained 

 mice ; three, small birds ; four, frogs ; one, cray- 

 fish and insects. The contents of the stomachs of 

 twenty-nine sparrow-hawks (Falco sparverius) was, 

 in fifteen cases, principally mice with traces of 

 various insects ; in six, grasshoppers ; in two, 

 coleoptera and grasshoppers ; two, meadow-larks ; 

 four, sparrows. Nine rough-legged hawks (Archi- 

 buteo lagopus sancti-johannis) examined had all 

 fed exclusively upon field-mice. Of eleven marsh- 

 hawks (Circus hudsonius), the stomachs of five 

 contained mice ; of two, small birds ; of three, 

 frogs ; the other, grasshoppers and rabbit's hair. 



The hawks of the genus Accipiter, on the other 

 hand, present a bad record; fourteen out of twenty- 

 four Cooper's hawks (A. Cooperi) being found to 

 contain chickens, seven others, birds, and three, 

 only mice and insects. Of sharp-shinned hawks 

 (A. velox), four out of fifteen contained chickens ; 

 nine, small birds ; one, mice ; and one, insects. 

 On the other hand, it is known that several other 

 species of the hawk family feed almost exclusively 

 upon insects, mice, snakes, and frogs. 



Careful examination of the contents of stomachs 

 of owls, of which the results have been published, 

 show that field-mice constitute their principal 

 food, and that grasshoppers and other insects 

 enter largely into the diet of all the smaller 

 species. The larger species add to their usual 

 fare of mice and the smaller mammals, many 

 grouse and rabbits. 



In short, enough is known of the regimen of 

 our rapacious birds to show that they are only ex- 

 ceptionally harmful to the farmer; their infrequent 

 Idfl — mostly by a few species — on the poultry 

 beting much more than offset by their destruction 

 of mice, grasshoppers, and other injurious 

 insects. 



In this connection, reference may be appropri- 



ately made to the letters from farmers and fruit- 

 growers, as well as bird-lovers, from various parts 

 of the country, addressed to the committee of the 

 American ornithologists' union on bird-protection, 

 detailing the vast injury they recognize as result- 

 ing to agriculture from the present wholesale 

 slaughter of birds. An extract from a letter from 

 a farmer in Dexter, Mich., will indicate the gen- 

 eral purport of these communications. " The 

 destruction of birds has been and is carried on 

 here to such an extent that it is hardly possible to 

 raise any kind of fruit; even the grapes, as well as 

 the apples, being too wormy for use or sale. 

 Boys, and even sires of families, but not men, go 

 out and shoot swallows, robins, larks, etc. It 

 makes no difference if they are nesting ; and many 

 a nest of young birds have starved on account of 

 their parents being shot. And the small boy with 

 his sling-shot destroys many — and all for the 

 desire to murder. . . . There is a law to pro- 

 hibit all this ; but those who could enforce it take 

 no interest in the matter. Not a single person 

 saves the skins for gain : the birds are thrown 

 away, or left where they fall. I have protested 

 against the cruelty, but to no purpose, except in 

 a few instances. The game and bird laws should 

 be enforced by men appointed for the purpose, 

 who should receive a salary, so that they may 

 make it a business." 



BIRD-LAWS. 

 Most of the states and territories have on their 

 statute-books laws for the protection of game and 

 fish, regulating the season of hunting and fishing, 

 and providing penalties for the taking of game or 

 fish during certain portions of each year, or, in 

 particular cases, for a series of years. These laws 

 are intended, in most cases, to give protection to 

 ' useful ' birds, in addition to the game-birds, and 

 their nests and eggs, at all seasons. In general, 

 these laws are crude and unsatisfactory so far as 

 they relate to supposed useful birds, and also in 

 relation to many others which are either pro- 

 tected merely during certain months, or not at 

 all, as is the case with many of the marsh and 

 shore inhabiting species, such as the herons, terns, 

 gulls, etc. Most of the laws exclude from prote* - 

 fcion all hawks and owls, crows, jays, and black- 

 birds, and, in some cases, robins and other kinds 

 of song-birds, woodpeckers, etc. A few of the 

 laws make provision for collecting birds and their 

 eggs for scientific purposes, often in a lax way, 

 but occasionally, as in Maine, with considerable 

 stringency; while the new bird-law of New Jersey 

 prohibits the destruction of song-birds, their nests 

 or eggs, for any purpose whatever. Defective as 



