Delaware State journal and statesman., 1866-08-10
ae0eF-
THE UsEEULNEss OF BIRDS.

appears in the Newark Advertiser, from
which we extract the following
THE BALTIMORE oRIoLE.
He spoke of the Baltimore oriole, showing
different specimens, Illustrating how much
che female and the males of different ages
differ from each other They are becoming
quite numerous; large elms suiting them
This family is chiefly insectivorous. When
II first arrives II feeds upon leafcurling cater
pillars, so injurious 10 our fruit and shade
trees. Now it is feeding upon the canker.
worm, that terrible pest In New England
Later In the season it is found eating the
drop worms The lecturer stated that by
the aid of the microscope he had been able
to prove positively that the oriole feeds upon
that terrible enemy of the fruitgrower, the
curculio; that small portion of the head of
whatwas supposed to be a curcuio was found
amongst the comminuted contents of the
stomach Of one of these birds, and the mi.
croscope enabled him TO count one hundred
and forty-seven lenses In one of the eyes
THE DowNY wooDrEcKER.
This Is the most valuable of all the birds
Of our country II knows where to find and
Is busy in searching out the apple-worm-
the second in Importance of the insect enc.
mics of fruit, which, with the curculio, are
the chief cause OF the ruin of the fruit busi-
ness, especially in our State. The little
chick.a'dee also feeds upon the apple-worm,
but finds ii accidentally and not by boring
for it, as the downy woodpecker does
TEE CEDAR BIRD.
or the cedar bird, or cherry bird, the Doc.
tor spoke at some length. wishing to rescue
II from the bad reputation as thief of cher
ries. 1t is u gross feeder, and consumes
immense. numbers OF canker worms, span
worms, and other injurious insects of that
class This bird, and the yellow bird, or
finch, resemble each other in one respect,
both remaining in focks till midsummer,
and are thus on hand in great numbers when
their services are most required, while most
other birds are at home attending to their
domestic duties. You find the cedar birds
in New York and Philadelphia in large hocks
in June, after the ''worms" and ! they could
be properly protected by closing the parks SO
that they should not be frightened away by
the people, they would do much towards
Kidding those cities OF these pests. The
yellow birds, in immense flocks, will be found
in those wheat fields where the midge is so
destructive They are in pursuit OF the
Larvae of these flies in the heads of the wheat
while the grain is in Its milky state, and
farmers have supposed these birds were the
cause of the trouble, not knowing that they
were their best friends
THE wARBLERs
The family of warblers include some
thirty or forty species They are small, but
exclusively insectivofous-most of them are
very beautiful, and some are charming song
sters. Many are with us all summer, but
others breed further north. They sometimes
remain with us few days both going and
coming. In the spring they will be feeding
on plant lice, as found in the orchard; in the
fall they stop and feed on the late brood of
Palmer worms that so in(est our elm and
maple treeh becoming exceedingly fat
THE wHIPPooRwnL.
Individual insects are as wonderfully made
aa any of the rest of creation, Moths fly
only at night, yel Solomon in an his glory
was not arrayed like one of these" Ten
thousand lenses to form the eyes; one hun
dred thousand feathers to complete the
wings; yet the whippoorwill will snap up
dozens of them in single night. The
whippOorwill is a nocturnal bird, and its
beak is so formed that it takes in moths as a
net takes in fish. The eyes of flies enable
them to see all around them, and the muscu.
lar force Of their wings is SO quick that they
can dodge the rain-drops in shower, yet
the swallow is so formed that it lives exclu.
sively on insects taken on the wing.
THE BEIKs OF BIRDS.
The beaks of all species of birds differ
from each other, but the beak of each I;
formed exactly for taking the insect its In
slinct teaches II TO choose as It's food. Many
of the birds live exclusively on insects-ai
the warblers, blueblrds and creepers SomC
seem omnivorous, and eat alpost anything
as robins and cedarbirds, and are gross feed
ers A. large class, as the bob-o o'links, black
birds, fnches, and some of the sparrows, will
live on insects in summer, and seeds in win
ter; or mix them when they can find both
Others again have still a wider range, al
jays, crows and butcher-birds.
THE IcHNEUMoN.
But the most important agent in the regu
lation of the insect world is an order pecu
liar to insects. We have nothing cores
/ "a s,, Nl,n otI RI fafg r.
animated creation. They are sometime
called parasites, but not correctly. Para
sites are everywhere; even vegetables hav
them. The mistletoe is a parasite. Blu
these are not necessarily destructive to tn
life of the victim. The Ichneumon is.
allude to those peculiar fies-wasp.shape'
and with four wings-that deposit their egg
in the bodies of other insects-the younl
feeding upon the living flesh of these vic
> tins, and upon which they grow to maturity
This seems strange Providence, and har
TO comprohend--but still it is So Withou
such an agent the Hessian fly would hay
a destroyed the wheat crops of this country
but with IL the Hessian fly was controlled i
4 a single season, and has been kept in chec
0 for fifty years Thousands of other insect
that would soon be troublesome are col
n trolled in the same way, and so quickly thG
n we hardly know how.
tut
~ A complete and thorough Buslnei
Education comprising all the various brancl
:. es of Bookkeeping, can be had at the Tell
e graphic and Commercial Institute, corner
I Third and Market Streets, Wilmington. Ais