Show r IV T T HE AHE Department of Natural His His His- J- J tory is is under obligations to Mr Lashbrook Laker a former student for fora a magnificent specimen of the great horned owl r f The specimen received is known to the the naturalist as the Bubo Arc icus Its c cousin the Bubo J ia- ia 11 nits nus us ranges from the Ohio River far north orth into British America Americ and nd from the Rocky Mountains east to the Atlantic Ocean The species received from Mr Laker differs little from the last named form but it ranges further n north rth and andis andis is seldom found east of the mountains It is more nearly white in color than the Bubo Virginian us and is on the whole hardier bird a Its range extends extends extends ex ex- tends from Alaska southward to central or southern Utah The owl is on the whole a valuable bird and should be protected by the he f. f farmer armer rather than han destroyed Examination Examina Examina- tion shows that its principal food f k IE I L t t til il c 1 consists ons st of r ra rats s 's mice mic mice g ground squirrels and insects The occasional occasional hen hen which it carries arries away is amply paid for by y they the mice mic and ground squirrels which it kills for food Were we not sadly behind to our own interests hawks and owls would would be much more common than they now w are and the balance of nature would be left to adjust its itself lf more completely tha than it can so long as man arbitrarily attempts attempts attempts at at- tempts to ext exterminate i important forms forms' 3 of life f Did all former students rea realize z zas as keenly as Mr Laker the use which j can be made of zoological specimens wei eJ feel sure that more specimens s of bird birds J Jand and mammals would be sent in 1 j |