Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 160, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1916 — Common American Birds [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Common American Birds

Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis) Length, about two feet. One of our largest hawks; ahults with tail reddish brown. Range: Breeds in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada and Alaska; winters generally in the United States and south to Guatemala. Habits and economic status: The red-tailed hawk, or "hen-hawk,” as it Is commonly called, is one of the best

known of all our birds of prey, and Is a widely distributed species of great economic importance. Its habit of sitting on some prominent limb or pole In the open, or flying with measured wing beat over prairies and sparsely wooded areas on the lookout for its favorite prey, causes it to be noticed by the most indifferent observer. Although not as omnivorous as the redshouldered hawk, it feeds on a variety of food, as small mammals, snakes, frogs, insects, birds, crawfish, centipedes, and even carrion. In regions where rattlesnakes abound it destroys considerable numbers of the reptiles. Although it feeds to a certain extent on poultry and birds, it is nevertheless entitled to general protection on account of the insistent warfare it wages against field mice and other small rodents and insects that are so destructive to young orchards, nursery stock, and farm produce. Out of 530 stomachs examined, 457, or 85 per cent, contained the Remains of mammals, pests such as field mice, pine mice, rabbits, several species of ground squirrels, pocket gophers, and cotton rats, and only 62 contained the remains of poultry or game birds. Barn Owl (Aluco pratincola) Length, about seventeen inches. Facial disk not circular as in our other owls; plumage above, pale yellow; beneath, varying from silky white to pale bright tawny. Range: Resident in Mexico r , in the southern United. States, and north to New York, Ohio, Nebraska, and California. Habits and economic status: The barn owl, often called monkey-faced owl, is one of the most beneficial of

khe birds of prey, since it feeds almost exclusively on small mammals that injure farm produce, nursery, and orchard stock. It hunts principally in the open and consequently secures such mammals as pocket gophers, field mice, common rats, house mice, harvest mice, kangaroo rats, and cotton rats. It occasionally captures a> few birds and insects. At least a half bushel of the remains of pocket gophers have been found in the nesting cavity of a pair of these birds. Remembering that a gopher has been known in a short time to girdle seven apricot trees worth SIOO it is hard to overestimate the value of the service of a pair of barn owls. One thousand two hundred and forty-seven pellets of the barn owl collected from the Smithsonian towers contained 3,100 skulls, of which 3,004, or 97 per cent, were mammals; 92, or 3 per cent, of birds; and 4 were of frogs. The bulk consisted of 1,987 field mice, 656 house mice, and 210 common rats. The birds eaten were mainly sparrows and blackbirds. This valuable owl should be rigidly protected throughout the entire range. Brown Creeper (Certhla familiaris americana) Length, five and one-half inches. Range: Breeds from Nebraska, Indiana, North Carolina (mountains), and -Massachusetts north to southern Canada, also in the mountains of the western JJnited States, north to Alaska, south to Nicaragua; winters over most of its range.. Habits and economic status: Rare-

Interesting information about them supplied by the Bureau of Biological Survey of the : United States of

ly indeed is the creeper seen at rest. It appears to spend its life in an incessant scramble over the trunks aAd branches of trees, from which it gets all its food. It is protectively colored so as to be practically invisible to its enemies and, though delicately built, possesses amazingly strong claws and feet. Its tiny eyes are sharp enough to detect insects so small that most other species pass them by, and altogether the creeper fills a unique place in the ranks of our insect destroyers. The food consists of minute insects and insects’ eggs, also cocoons of tlneid moths, small wasps, ants, and bugs, especially scales and plant lice, with some small caterpillars. As the creeper remains in the United States

throughout the year, it naturally secures hibernating insects and insects’ eggs, as well as spiders and spiders’ eggs missed by the summer birds. On its bill of fare we find no product ot husbandry nor any useful insects.

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) Length, seventeen inches. The broad black band near tip of tail distinguishes this from other grouse. Range: Resident in the northern two-thirds of the United States and in the forested parts of Canada. Habits and economic status: The ruffed grouse, the famed drummer and finest game bird of the northern woods, is usually wild and wary and under reasonable protection well withstands the attacks of hunters. Moreover, when reduced In numbers, It responds to protection in a gratifying manner and has proved to be well adapted to propagation under artificial conditions. Wild fruits, mast, and browse make up the bulk of the vegetable food of this species. It is very fond of hazelnuts, beechnuts, chestnuts, and acorns, and it eats practically all kinds of wild berries and other fruits. Nearly 60 kinds of fruits have been identified from the stomach contents examined. Various weed seeds also are consumed. Slightly more than 10 per cent of the food consists of insects, about half beetles. The most important pests devoured are the potato beetle, clover-root weevil, the pale-striped flea beetle, grapevine

leaf-beetle, May beetles, grasshoppers, cotton worms, army worms, cutworms, the red-humped apple worm, and sawfly larvae. While the economic record of the ruffed grouse is fairly commendable, Undoes hot call for more stringent protection than is necessary to maintain the species in reasonable numbers.