ieee ee DiU BG) Nee Bie lees TN 23 
Deplorable as it is when members of our flora and fauna dimin- 
ish in numbers or even disappear entirely owing to natural causes 
over which man has no control, or to unavoidable conditions brought 
about by our civilization, it becomes downright criminal when it is 
due to man’s carelessness, ignorance, stupidity, greed or.a primeval 
lust of killing. And it is precisely to these causes that the rapid dis- 
appearance of whole orders and families of our avifauna is due. Here 
belong our hawks and owls. Not so many years ago, one or more of 
these wonderful flyers could be found soaring gracefully over every 
woodlot in these states, thereby considerably enhancing one’s enjoy- 
ment of the outdoors. Now one may walk or drive for hours or even 
days without seeing one. A pitiless war has been waged against 
them by farmers and sportsmen on the plea that they are destructive 
to poultry and to game birds. This has occurred in spite of the fact 
that as early as 1893 our federal Department of Agriculture published 
an exhaustive treatise on the food of our birds of prey.* On the 
basis of hundreds of stomach investigations, carried on over a long 
time, this publication shows that by destroying vast numbers of 
rodents injurious to crops most of our hawks are more beneficial than 
harmful, and that most owls are purely useful. 
Now as to the contention of sportsmen that hawks and owls are 
predators, destructive to game birds. Before Columbus discovered 
America, who shot the hawks and owls? Was there a dearth of game 
birds then? Were any of them in danger of extinction as many are 
now? ‘These sportsmen blame this alarming condition on a variety 
of causes—drought, excessive heat, cold, foxes, crows, hawks, owls 
and other “predators,” but the true reason is excessive shooting. This 
is also the mental niveau of some political state departments of con- 
servation and their heads. 
For the same reason many ducks and shore birds are approach- 
ing the verge of extinction. An army of seven million hunting license 
holders marches out yearly against the pitifully small remnants of 
wild things. Let us call a stop to it before it is too late! 
Similarly, our marsh birds—rails, gallinules and others—are 
rapidly leaving the scene. This is due to the wholesale draining of 
swamps much of which is harmful and unnecessary. Many of the 
remaining marshes are now threatened by the danger of draining, 
or at least oiling, on the plea that such radical procedure is necessary 
to control mosquitoes. Firing with cannon at mosquitoes! Placing 
minnows, notably top minnows (Gambusia sp.), would do the work. 
While there is no doubt that the white man’s agriculture has been 
helpful to a few species, such as the meadowlark and the bluebird 
(until recently), one has to look long before being able to discover 
any species that are on the increase. The only one decidedly so is 
that lately introduced pest, the starling. The flicker seems to be do- 
ing a little better than holding its own. 
*Hawks and Owls of the United States, by A. K. Fisher. 
