Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-09-02
FEDERAL COURTS TO BE
USED AGAINST THE union

olOgiSt Beal. The redwing eats very
little fruit and does practically no harm
in the garden or orchard" Weed seed
forms practically its whole food in win
tier. rag weed, foX-tail. smart weed. and
a dozen other kinds being eaten. The
crow blackbird is guilty of taking more
grain, but half of this is waste grain.
andd IAN examination of 225S stom-
achs showed that nearly Onethird of
its food consists of insects, of which
1.-THE greater part are injurious" In the
spring it follows the plow and eats
| large quantities of grub worms.
Only Three Harmful Hawks.
A X Fisher of the United States de-
lpartment of agriculture has made a
tstudy of hawks and owls from the
standpoint of the farmer. He says that
lonly three or four of these birds of
prey hunt birds when they can procure
rodents for food. Mr. Fisher divides
| the birds of prey into four groups. The
harmful species consist of the Cos
hawk, the Cooper hawk, and the sharp
Ishinned hawk, a miniature of the Coop
er hawk, but with the exception of
these and the great horned owl. which
does much of both good and evil, I'VE
may safely say that the rapacious
birds are among the most. il not the
most valuable birds that wage war
against the foes of the agriculturist."
| Distinguish Between Friend and Foe.
The golden eagle, bald eagle, pigeon
hawk, Richardson hawk. two falcons
and the great horned owl formed a
group that is partly beneficial ami
partly harmful. No argument is made
Tor protecting these doubtful birds,
but farmers should make no mistake
in distinguishing them from the many
other species which are decidedly their
| friends.
RoughIeG Feeds on Meadow Mice.
| The rough-legged hawk and the
squirrel hawk belong in the wholly
beneficial group. The roughleg is one
of the farmers most important allies
against meadow mice. Mr.. Fisher
points out that it feeds on little else
during its six months sojOurn in the
United States. The squirrel hawk dis
poses of great number of meadow
mice, squirrels and destructive ro-
dents
Largest Group Is Mostly Beneficial.
| Nearly two-thirds of our hawks and
|owls are mostly but not wholly bene.
fetal. The marsh hawk one of the
most valuable The red-tailed hawi,
and the red-shouldered hawk. boin
known as chen hawks" do occasional
ly eat poultry but the quantity is 50
small in comparison with the vast
number of destructive rodents CON
| sumed that it is hardly worth men
| tioning"
| Ten Times More Benefit Than Damage
| While fully &C per cent of the rel
tails food consists of injurious mani
mails not more than I per cent cou-
sists of poultry, and it is probable
that large proportion of the poultry
and game captured by it and the other
buzzard hawks is made up of old,
| diseased, or otherwise disabled fowls
says Mr.. Fisher. Many kinds of
ground squirrels. mice. moles, shrews.
etc. were found in stomachs of the
red-tailed hawk
| Fine Record for "IIcn Hawks"
The red shouldered hawk is very
valuable to the farmer and everywhere
it should be fostered and protected.
About 80 per cent of its food. includ-
ing mice, squirrels. shrews and gras.i-
hoppers, consists of injurious man.
mails and insects. and hardly u Der
lcent of poultry and game.
The Swanson hawk and the broad
winged hawk feed extensively on liz
furious insects and rodents. The spar
row hawk deserves special protection ::
Int lives principally upon insects an /
mice. The long cared own and the
lshort-eared owl DESTROY great numbers
of mice and small mammals Only
Az per cent of the barred owls food
lis poultry and game. as Indicated nv
100 stomachs. and it destroys insects
and rodents
Save the Sereech OWL
. Mr.. Fisher saws there is no question
that the screech owl should be pro
tected, as three-fourths of its food
consists of injurious mammals and H.
sects. and one-third of the birds found
in 254 stomachs We're English spar
rows. The little burrowing owl l..
lpreeminently an insect eater-Illinois
Farmers Institute.
CAR MEN HELD FOR DEATH