. The book of birds : common birds of town and country and American game birds . The Atlantic coast is peculiarly fitted to be thehome of the terns by reason of the extensiveshallows and the great number of sandy islandson which terns and gulls used to breed in abso-lute safety. At. the bidding of fashion, how-ever, thousands of these beautiful creatureswere slaughtered, till the sand was red withtheir blood and island colonies that used tonumber thousands were exterminated. No ex-cuse serves to palliate the crime of the whole-sale murder of these graceful sea swallows, asthey are aptly termed
. The book of birds : common birds of town and country and American game birds . The Atlantic coast is peculiarly fitted to be thehome of the terns by reason of the extensiveshallows and the great number of sandy islandson which terns and gulls used to breed in abso-lute safety. At. the bidding of fashion, how-ever, thousands of these beautiful creatureswere slaughtered, till the sand was red withtheir blood and island colonies that used tonumber thousands were exterminated. No ex-cuse serves to palliate the crime of the whole-sale murder of these graceful sea swallows, asthey are aptly termed, which used to make ourshores so attractive by their presence. But thetide seems to have turned, partly at least. Thegovernment has set aside islands as breedingresorts and places of refuge and, through theactivity of Audubon societies and of individualworkers, a certain measure of safety seemsnow assured to these persecuted birds. It mayeven prove possible, by the bird sanctuary plan,to increase their numbers again and make thema familiar sight along our deserted shores. 49. Sparrow HawkRed-tailed Hawk 50 SPARROW HAWK (Falco sparverius) RED-TAILED HAWK (Buteo borealis) Length, about lo inches. This is one of thebest Icnown and handsomest, as well as thesmallest, of North American hawks. Range : Breeds throughout the United States,Canada, and northern Mexico; winters in theUnited States and south to Guatemala. Habits and economic status: The sparrowhawk, which is a true falcon, lives in the moreopen country and builds its nest in hollowtrees. It is abundant in many parts of theWest, where telegraph poles afford it conve-nient perching and feeding places. Its foodconsists of insects, small mammals, birds, spi-ders, and reptiles. Grasshoppers, crickets, andterrestrial beetles and caterpillars make upconsiderably more than half its subsistence,while field mice, house mice, and shrews coverfully 25 per cent of its annual supply. Thebalance of the food includes birds, reptiles,and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1921
