Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1912-09-06

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as the nutritious portions are abb
sorbed, the other portions, such as
hair, bones and feathers, are rolled
into ball by the action of the stom-
ach. These are vomited out and are
known as pellets, and by examining
the pellets which are found about
the homes and roosting places Of
these birds, experts can tell exactly
what kind of food has been eaten.
Birds that are commonly known
as hen hawks or chicken hawks"
are either red-shouldered or red
tailed hawks and are among the most
valuable residents of any farming
community. 1t has been demonstrate
ed by careful examination of hun
dreds of stomachs of the red-tailed
do not constitute more than 10 per
cent of its food. So there Is a big
| balance in favor of the hawk. Out of
| 220 stomachs of the red-shouldered
hawk examined, only three contained
the remains of poultry.
The sparrow hawk Is bird whose
name is against him. He should have
been named the grasshopper hawk,
| for he seldom touches a sparrow
while he lives to large extent on
grasshoppers.
The golden eagle is one of our
largest and widest birds of prey.
! During the summer of 1904 we made
several visits to the eyrie of one of
these birds in the mountains of Cali
fornia. Each time we examined the
food remains and pellets about the
nest and found very large part Of
the eagles food consisted of ground
squirrels with an occasional rabbit
One day we found the bodies of four
ground squirrels lying on the rim
of the nest. The hills In many places
were perforated with the burrows of
the squirrels. l am satisfied that
this family of eagles consumed an
average of six squirrels a day during
| the period of nesting, and very likely
more than that. This low estimate
would mean the destruction of $40
squirrels in about three months
time. If it were not for these and
other birds of prey. the country
would soon be overrun with harm
full creatures of the ground
AS a family the owls are among
the most beneficial of all birds from
the standpoint of the agriculturist.
The hawk hunts by day and the owl
by night. The work of one supple
ments that of the other.
The screech owl is. the common
est of the smaller birds of this fam
lily. 1t deserves the fullest protec-
ton. Out of 255 stoma chs of this
bird examined by the biological sur
vey, only one contained the remains
Of domestic fowl. Besides being
an efficient destroyer of mice, this
caterpillars and is of great value in
reducing these harmful pests.
The barn owl, like the burrowing
owl, is valuable hand about the
farm. A pair of these birds occupied
one of the towers of the Smithsonian
Institution at Washington. When
the young were half grown the floor
was strewn with pellets. An exam
ination of 200 of thes showed a total
of $50 skulls; 412 of these were
mice. 20 rats. 90 shrews, one mole
and vesper sparrow.
Some people think the flicker or
woodpecker does more harm than
good because he bores into trees. He
has long elastic tongue that Is COW
cred with sticky saliva, and this Is
thrust out to catch small insects If
the flicker was good for nothing else
he would deserve careful protection
because he is the persistent enemy
of the ant family. He seems to have
been created and equipped largely for
this one purpose. Ants are often a
great pest; they infest houses and de-
stroy timber Worst of all, they pro-
tect and care for many aphides or
plant lice, which are among the
greatest enemies of trees, plants and
shrubs. Among the stomachs of
woodpeckers which have been ex-
amined by Professor Beal three were
completely filled with ants. Two of
these contained more than 5000,
while the third contained fully 5000
ants.
If were to say that the crow is a
helping hand about the farm, many
farmers might think l lived In the
city Many might prefer to be with
out such help. The crow has repu-
tation as black as his coat. He has
been charged with causing great in