The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-09-26

rs q sparrow hawk (Falco S~pRrVerluk)
for examination. Not a feather seems
to have tickled his palate this day,
nothing but grasshoppers, grRsshop'
pers, grasshoppers. These pretty lit,
tie hawks eat birds but little, their diet
being almost entirely insectiVorous.
The other very small hawk, the sharp
skin or little blue tail (Accipiter Velon)
is a bird of another color, his diet be,
ing chiefly feathered, but his small slzs
confines his attention chiefly to quite
small birds-including very young
chickens, The next thing u farmer
kills is a Cooper's hawk, or big blue,
tail Nccipiter Oooper) An interested
gsze into his interior reveals nothing
but birds, and, although ne chicken
remains are present, yet we all know,
farmer, poultry raiser and scientist,
that chicken he loves. Examine these
remains a little more closely and we
find that all the food he has eaten dur.
ing the day has consisted Of rice birds,
those terribly destructive pests to the
rice grower, This at once raises an
other question: the rice bird Of the
South is the Bobolink of the North,
where he is a song-bird, living on
harmful Cd insects and under legal pro
lection. Under these conditions Is a
hawk that eats a rice bird doing a
harmful or beneficial acts I don't
know. Take again the common hen
hawk-so-called-the red-shouldered
hawk of the books (8uteo Lineatus}
It is usually killed as a chicken de-
stroyer on every conceivable occasion
while as a matter of fact, determined
by the examination of many hundreds
of stomachs by the experts Of the Uni
ted States Department Of Agriculture,
its food is mostly field rats, frogs and
beetles. And so it goes, all through
the list of the twenty or more species
of raptorial or prey catching birds
found in North Carolina. Most of
them don't eat chickens at all and Of
those that do, but three or four species
can be in any way regarded as nuisan-
ces, the diet of the bird-eaters COM
prising but a very small proportion OF
cultivated poultry.
Here is a snake. Kill the venomous
reptile before he bites somebody and
causes untold agony or even death
from the effects of the whiskey sWRl-
lowed to counterRct his ''sting." But,
hold a momentl all things are not as
bad as painted, and possibly a good
word may be said for his snakeship,
even as the pious old lady found some
thing good to say of the devil. There
is q bulge in his c~orporosity, so cut
him open and find out the last bill Of
fare at his boarding house. loads
nothing else. Toads On the half shell,
and cold toads on toast. Around here
the diet Of this species (prsading ad-
der) seems to be toads only, and as the |
food of the toad is pretty much entirely
insectivorous it locks as If the spread
ing adder is not benef eial-but then
again that is taking it for granted that
most insects are i~njurious-a doubtful
stand. Open his mouth and examine
his teeth No poison faDgs7 Not much.
nothing but a few rows of fine needle
with which to hold his slippery
prey. The truth is that so far as his
will to bite e human being and power
to hurt the same are concerned, he is
about as ferocious and noxious as a
butterfly.
But here is a green snake; his life
must surely be taken, as everybody
knows him to be deadly ''pizan."
Truth again steps to the front and says
that he is, if possible, no more willing !
and even less able to infict damage
than is the foregoing species.
This lizard is perfectly harmless and
probably Of benefit to the farmer on
account of iss insect diet. See apeci-
in the State Museum.
The majority Of the smaller species
Of snakes are also probably beneficial
as We usually regard il sect eaters in
that way. The larger kinds have a
more varied diet, the black, chicken,
King snake, etc feeding to at least
some extent on young birds and rats.
The only poisonous snake that need be
aiken into account around Raleigh is
copperhead or highland moccaein
,AgkistrCd IN CONFORMITY This snake
% not very common, and, in spite of
It's name, is more frequently found in
'he loWlands than on the uPIands. The
'attlesnakes and cotton mouth water
nocc asin (Agkistrodon p~iscivorua) are
100 rare to need mention.
RRS PNIMG HnPM Srar nc d