. [Articles about birds from National geographic magazine]. Birds. AMERICAN BIRDS OF PREY 46?. Pliotograiih i)y HowarJl 11. Cleaves A RED-SHOUI,DERED HAWK PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE ilOJIKXT OF ITS STRIKE Note the phenomenal reach of leg of this bird of prej-, a species wi(lel_v distributed and commonly known as the "Henhawl-:." The name does it an injustice, for it deserves to be encouraged and protected as an enemy of rodents and destructive insects. sively on desert quail, jays, and other birds of its inhospitable habitat. The Pigeon Hawk is really much like a tiny peregrine. It can catc
. [Articles about birds from National geographic magazine]. Birds. AMERICAN BIRDS OF PREY 46?. Pliotograiih i)y HowarJl 11. Cleaves A RED-SHOUI,DERED HAWK PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE ilOJIKXT OF ITS STRIKE Note the phenomenal reach of leg of this bird of prej-, a species wi(lel_v distributed and commonly known as the "Henhawl-:." The name does it an injustice, for it deserves to be encouraged and protected as an enemy of rodents and destructive insects. sively on desert quail, jays, and other birds of its inhospitable habitat. The Pigeon Hawk is really much like a tiny peregrine. It can catch the fleet and elusive sandpipers and plover along shore and is usualh' encountered follow- ing the migrating flocks in spring and fall. This little falcon varies its diet and improves its record by consuming large numbers of crickets, grasshoppers and beetles, but it is a willing and capable ogre when song birds abound, and one seldom comes to hand that has not plenty of evidence against it in its crop. Among the owls, the Great Horned, or "Cat Owl," does practically all the dam- age for the family. Big, powerful, ag- gressive, and fearless, he finds no diffi- culty in helping himself to the farmer's poultry whenever he feels like it, when allowed to roost outside. A muskrat trap, set baited or bare on a convenient perch near the chicken yard, is a cruel but practical way of determining who has been thieving, though sometimes a Barred Owl, ratting around the barns, falls victim to this method. These, then, are the real culprits, if placed on a profit-and-loss basis. The beneficial species outnumbers those on the "black ; THE BENEEICIAE SPECIES (sEE COLOR PLATE XV) By far the most important group of rodent-killing birds is the very group to which we have mistakenly given the com- mon name of "Henhawk" and "Chicken Hawk," a most unfortunate error and one most difficult to undo. It may be stated broadly that the big, conspicuous hawks
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