The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1916-06-10

IL would prOnt the man with a poultry
-" yard and farm to study the habits
of hawks a little and to learn to discriminate be-
tween the friend and the foe to his interests.
Let take first the hawks ordinarily known
hen hawks or chicken hawks. The hawks COM
monty called by these rarely kill any chick
ems. But the trouble is that they get the blame
for the bad deeds of birds that sneak in" to the
poultry yard, do their killing and make their
escape while the big bird soaring in plain sight
against the heavens is charged with being the
culprit and receives the present of a charge OF
shot if opportunity offers
Take the red-tailed hawk for instance. He is
known to the scientist Buteo borealis In the
West the soaring chicken hawk" almost invari-
ably is the redtai About year perhaps
the redtan will pick up chicken. but for the rest
of the time he contents himself with diet of
frogs, snakes, crawfish, insects and small
mails. mostly of injurious habit of life. The
number of field mice that red-tailed hawk in the
course of month will catch and devour is almost
Incredible.
The good that this chicken hawk does far
outweighs the harm that it is a living shame il is
hunted SO ceaseessly. If there ever was a crea-
ture in the world about whom there are thou
sand mistaken thoughts that creature is the red
tailed hawk. the commonest of chicken
hawks"
Ordinarily one thinks of birds of prey as being
exceedingly bold Some of them are. But the
redtail is pretty nearly every occasion
rant coward He is meekly submissive to the
saults of the kngbird and he is perfect poltroon
a buffet a red-tailed hawk for half an hour,
the hawk making absolutely no attempt to defend
himself and apparently being afraid to leave its
perch fencepOst for fear that the would
get greater advantage while in flight AS rule
the courageous hawks the injurious hawks
There is another hawk similar in its habits to
the redtail. 1t is fairly common in many parts
Of the United States and particularly so east of
the Mississippi river. 1t is called the red-shoul-
dered hawk. and with the redtaiI it shares the
icrF70T of ciT1
a chicken hawk. Like the redtail it occasionally
kills a chicken. But it dearly loves rats mice
tree-girdling rabbits, frogs, and insects The red
shouldered hawk scars, and scars, and scars and
when it is seen against the sky the shotgun is
brought out and attempt is made to kill the
friend that is looking for field MICE gophers or
something else, and with its thoughts far removed
from the chicken COOP
In a suburb of Washington, D. c. friend of
mine has country place where he raises large
numbers of chickens This friend is bird lover
and he has many species of American birds dwell
ing at his doorstep Back of his house he has
about twenty of woodland, and in these
woods lived two pairs of red-shouldered hawks
My friend asked me if he should kill the hawks
in order to save his chickens 1 told him to leave
the hawks alone and he did so for a long time
Finally on one unfortunate day of the red
shouldered gentlemen descended on the poultry
yard and made of with a pullet Death was de-
creed for the hawks and they were killed
Within few weeks the chickens began to dis
appear, or, at any rate found dead with their
lifebood gone, and in some cases partly devoured
The weasels were at work After the hawks were
killed the weasels multiplied in great numbers
and took their heavy toll of ROSTERS hens and
little chicks OF uncertain My friend was sorry
that he had killed the hawks.
Then there is the sparrow hawk, known to the
scientist FalcO sparverius This is the smallest
of the hawks of North America and it has range
all the United States. The sparrow hawk
almost unquestionaby is the most beautiful as it
is the smallest, of our birds of prey This little
hawk is unfortunately named 1t was dubbed
sparrow hawk long before the day of the English
sparrows in this country. 1t was so called be-
cause it occasionally captured and killed some of
native American sparrows, which. for the most
part, benefcent birds. Lately the sparrow
hawk when it does any bird killing ALL turns it's
attention largely to English sparroWs, and there
by adds to the services which it otherwise rem
ders The sparrow hawk lives mostly on small
injurious mammals. insects, grasshoppers cater
pillars and the like. 1t should be said how
ever that fully % per cent of the the
row hawk consists of field mice, house mice and
shrews.
A pair of sparrow hawks have nest or at any
rate resting place, back OF a big bronze eagle
which spreads its wings near the roof on the face
OF the state, war. and navy building in Washing
ton directly across narrow street from one end
OF the White House. These two sparrow hawks
hunt the White House grounds daily 1t may not
be the same pair, but two sparrow hawks have
/ been abiding back OF the state department eagle
for good many years.
When Theodore Roosevelt was president he
searched the grounds around the White House
every in while to discover what he could in
the way of wild life. Next to birds, he was partic-
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