jumping
mice, 20 were from shrews, 1 was of a mole and 1 a vesper sparrow. _One_
bird, and 453 noxious mammals! Compare this with the record of any cat
on earth. Anything that the barn owl wants from me, or from any farmer,
should at once be offered to it, on a silver tray. This bird is often
called the Monkey-Faced Owl, and it should be called the Farmer's-Friend
Owl.

THE LONG-EARED OWL, (_Asio wilsonianus_) has practically the same kind
of a record as the barn owl,--scores of mice, rats and shrews
destroyed, and only an occasional small bird. Its nearest relative, the
_Short-eared Owl (A. accipitrinus_) may be described in the same words.

[Illustration: THE BARN OWL
Wonderfully Destructive of Rats and Mice, and
Almost Never Touches Birds]

The GREAT HORNED OWL fills us with conflicting passions. For the long
list of dead rats and mice, pocket gophers, skunks, and weasels to his
credit, we think well of him, and wish his prosperity. For the
song-birds, ruffed grouse, quail, other game birds, domestic poultry,
squirrels, chipmunks and hares that he kills, we hate him, and would
cheerfully wring his neck, wearing gauntlets. He does an unusual amount
of good, and a terrible amount of harm. It is impossible to strike a
balance for him, and determine with mathematical accuracy whether he
should be shot or permitted to live. At all events, whenever _Bubo_
comes up for trial, we must give the feathered devil his due.

The names "CHICKEN HAWK or HEN HAWK" as applied usually refer to the
RED-SHOULDERED or RED-TAILED species. Neither of these is really very
destructive to poultry, but both are very destructive to mice, rats and
other pestiferous creatures. Both are large, showy birds, not so very
swift in flight, and rather easy to approach. Neither of them should be
destroyed,--not even though they do, once in a great while, take a
chicken or wild bird. They pay for them, four times over, by
rat-killing. Mr. J. Alden Loring states that he once knew a pair of
red-shouldered hawks to nest within fifty rods of a poultry farm on
which there were 800 young chickens and 400 ducks, not one of which was
taken. (See the American Natural History, pages 229-30.)

HAWKS THAT SHOULD BE DESTROYED.--There are two small, fierce, daring,
swift-winged hawks both of which are so very destructive that they
deserve to be shot whenever possible. They are COOPER'S HAWK _(Accipiter
cooperi_) and the SHARP-SHINNED HAWK _(A. velox_). They are cl