Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/142

 The Red-Shouldered Hawk t i ll

very small leaven of facts. mag ed by the prejudice anti ignorance of ages. has swollen- to a very mountain of crime Without reason they are called "Chicken-hawk" antl “Hen-hawk." simply because a farmer from time to time may miss lrom his Mark of barn- yard lowl a pullet or hen. or may ﬁnd their scattered leathers where a tragedy has occurred, The farmer does not tor a moment consider that this crime may have been com- mitted by a fox. skunk, I ink, weasel. cat or some other carnivorous animal. but at once attributes it to a Hawk. and immediately registers a vow to kill every Hawk that he sees without reﬂecting that by so doing he may be killing one oi his best friends.

Farmers are not the only persons who have a prejudice against Hawks. [or it is unfor- tunater too true that a large percentage of sportsmen attribute the rapidly tlimm hing numbers oi game-birds to Hawks. and consequently never tail to ltill one when an oppor- tunity occurs. There is really very little doubt but that an increase in the number ol Hawks of the Buteo class wotlld restllt in an increase of game-birds. as tlte Hawks would reduce the number of small predaceous mammals that are so destructive to the young at game-birds.

It is certainly a very short-sighted policy on the part of any one to condemn Hawks on hearsay evidence: in human alfairs no court will permit the admission of this kind of testi- mony, and why should it be considered when birds are on trial? The proper method to judge of the good or evil that Hawks do is to consider the results of a thorough antl scien- tiﬁc investigation of the food of a large nllmber of Hawks collected lrom widely separated sections of the country and at all seasons of the year. Under certain circumstances an individual Hawk may be guilty oi doing harm owing to lti particular surroundings. but that is no reason for condemning all Hawks. any more than it would be for charging with crime every citizen in a village because one misguided individual was caught robbing the bank.

The subject of the econnmic status of Hawks is one of great importance. and the agri- culturist who is not willing to carefully examine all of the evi ence presented certainly is not Ii ing up to the advanced irleas ot the twentieth century. but is still groping in dark- ness. The wide-awake farmer investigates every problem that will enable him to increase his products a pound or a bushel. If it can he proved that Hawks destroy enormous quantities of insects and vermin that are known to be a serious menace to agriculture. should they not be protected as valuable auxiliaries to this industry. which is by tar the most important and valuable ol all that engage the attention of tnan. it is purposctl to present to the farmers of the country as rapidly as possible a series of illustrated leaﬂets giving the true economic status of the Hawks of North America. and it is hoped that every person who reads the series will carefully weigh the evidence furnished. and i it is shown by unimpeachable scientiﬁc facts that the species treated of is of value. let the

farmer not onlyprotect the Hawk in question but insist that his neighbors shall do likewise. The following evidence regarding Red-shouldered Hattlts is taken irom the report of the Ornithologist of the State Board of Agriculture of Pennsylvania. the:

"In my examinations or 57 at there hawks lted-shouldrrctll which h-rtc hccn captured Ill l’enhstltanti. H had been eating acid-mite. romc rcw other small uuadruotds. xmsshnnncth and rrisctts. mostl) \lrrilrs. he tctealrd (top and Inaccu: two. small buds. rrmains at small mrrttmils and a low beetlcs. tit-o, shatter anti yoltimls ul trues. taut at one htrd contained a we hairs or a holdurmusc and tonic Innz hlarlr hair whteh arnearrd \r') mirth litre that ota -ltuttlt. The bird on dissrttrnn eate a \ctydccided mint nl skunk. in two nl these hrtwlts. shot it.

Florida. I lotlnd "I one purlionsol a rrnall carrish. and in the other. remains ul a small mammal and some lew rolenp- terous insects thecuerm

In i393 the United States Department of Agriculture presenlzll the following results of stomach examinations:

The stomachs of 220 Red-shouldered Hawks were examined. of which only 1 contained pnultr) this is only about the per cent of the total number examined. showing how very little harm this species of Hawk does to the farmers' chickens; l2