BIRD LIFE IN WASHINGTON 
89 
HAWKS AND OWLS 
Western Washington is not very rich 
in Hawks and Owls. We have a number 
of species but most of them are transition 
birds; that is, they travel through here 
in the spring and autumn on their north¬ 
ern and southern journeys, so we have but 
a short time to enjoy them. 
I know there are a great many people 
who still think that a Hawk or an Owl 
is a great enemy to chickens and therefore 
a thing to be shot on sight. 
An occasional strong desire for a chick¬ 
en dinner has given these beautiful birds 
a worse name by far than they deserve. 
The contents of hundreds of their stom¬ 
achs have been examined and we mav 
know exactly what they do eat. Their 
food consists of insects and such animals 
as mice, rats, and gophers; all of which 
are injurious to crops. 
A few species occasionally visit the lien 
yard: but should we stop to consider the 
number of dollars’ worth that have been 
lost by these visits in our neighborhood 
in a year, would it be very many? 
Excepting, perhaps, the work of a few 
species, the good that Hawks and Owls 
render to crops offsets many times the 
slight harm they do our chickens. 
