Connecticut western news., 1917-01-25

Here is letter from one of the be t informed ornithoIogists in the state, who thinks that an eagle is hawk:
 Editor of The News:
 Dear Sir. In your issue of 11th inst you have an article on the Golden Eagle. You quote Webster as an authority. He was evidently not an ornithologist. Now I am not lawyer, but ill Bulletin No. 9 of Division of Ornithology of Mammology Depart ment of Agriculture U. s. "The Hawk and Owls of the United States by A. K. Fisher, M. D.. under the direction of Dr. O. Hart Merriam, urnithologist, both the Golden and Bald eagles are given. I think their classification bet ter than Webster's and would carry more weight in lawsuit. Some 20 to 35 years ago the Connecticut legisla lure passed law especially protecting Bald Eagles, but in few yaers there was so much complaint of their depre dations that the law was appealed and I don't think they are protected ill any way now.
 should not care to kill one anyhow unless it was attacking some of my property in which case I should not hesitate minute. Suppose at the next meeting of the Board Of Commissioners of game and fish you take the mat ter up and get the opinion of the board, especially Dr. Sanford.
 In the same issue speaking of the l new 50 cent piece you quote from the Bridgeport Standard, "The Eagle looks | like the American Bird except for it's upholstered legs." the Standard be longs with Webster and don't know that the Golden eagle is feathered to the base of it's toes while the Bald Eagle has naked legs, probably on &C., count of it's fishing proclivities. Fisher and Merriam do not mention the bug gard Your article is based on Web- ster's definition and I don't believe it would be accepted by ornithological authorities. F. H. Austin. Gaylordsville, Conn.
 In quoting Webster in the last issue of The News we referred to Webster's International Dictionary. the recog. nized authority on definitions, and not literally to Noah Webster, who died many years before this edition of the dictionary was edited or published. It is possible that from an ornithological standpoint, Webster may not have known all cage from humming bird. but the men who wrote and edited the definitions in the International were specialists in their respective lines, and selected to do this work becaue they were considered authority. The men who are responsible for stating in tn work that eagles are not hawks, were Wilfred H. Osgood, assistant curator of mammalogy and ornithology in the field museum of natural history, Chicago; Willard Gibbs, Van Name, Ph. D.. and Prof. W. P. Hay, head of the biological department of public schools in Wash ington, D. O.
 While Dr. Fisher and Dr. Merriam were doubtless justified in including eagles with hawks in their bulletin be- cause they evidently took in the whole genus, Falco, which includes both; yet if there is no other distinction why are we not correct in referring to the Waterbury bird as Golden Hawk. If eagles and hawks are the same why confuse matters by having two names for the same thing?
 Hawks and eagles belong to the same genus, Falco, which gives the same ex- cuse for calling an eagle hawk that we have for calling a goose duck, be. cause the two latter belong to the same family, AnaIdae; so the hawks, owls. eagles and vultures all belong to the order Raptores, yet we do not consider because of this that an owl is hawk nor an eagle. Rats and mice belong to the same genus. Mus, but do we con- sider mouse a rat, or vice versa the only difference in classification is the size, same as hawks and eagles. Wild turkeys, partridge and quail are all of the pheasant family, but if we were writing a bulletin on wild turkeys would we include quail? The com mon crow and the blue jay belong to the same family, but would you go out and shoot blue jays because our law says that crows are not protected
 We realize that this is simply ques tion of where we draw the line. and in making our laws these lines should be so plainy defined that no questioa can arise. Were these matters to be de- cided in court it would not be done by