Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-06-30
TIE USEFULNESS OF RIRDs,


Or. Irlmble, OF Newark, n. j., one of the
leading entomologists of the country, recently
addressed the Essex County New Jersev)
Sportsmen's Club upon the Importance of pro-
tecting the insect-eating birds. A report an.
pears in the Newark Advertiser, from which
we extract the following:
THE BALTIMORE OFIoLE.
He first spoke of the Baltimore oriole, show
ing different specimens, illustrating how much
| the female and the males of different ages diff
| fer from each other. They are becoming quite
numerous; large elms suiting them. This fam
lily IS chiefly insectivorous. When it first ar
| rlves 1t feeds upon leaf-curling caterpillars-
SO injurious to our fruit and shade trees. Now
| 1t IS feeding upon the canker-worm-that ter
| rible pest in New England. Later in the sea-
son 1t is found eating the drop-worms.
The lecturer stated that by the aid of the
| microscope he had been able to prove posi-
lively that the oriole feeds upon that terrible
enemy OF the fruit grower-the curculio; that
a small portion of the head of what was sun
| posed to be curculio was found amongst the
| comminuted contents of the stomach Of one Of
| these birds: and the microscope enabled him
| to count the one hundred and fortv-seven
lenses in one of the eyes-the exact number
| known to make the eye Of this particular
| species of the curculio family.
THE DOWNY wOODPECKER.
This is the most valuable of all the birds of
| our country. 1t knows where to find and is
| busy IN searching out the apple-worm-the
| second in Importance of the insect enemies of
| fruit, which, with the curculio, are the chief
| cause of the ruin of the fruit business, espe-
cially in our State. The little chick-a-dee also
| feeds upon the apple worm but finds it acct
dentally and not by boring for it, as the downy
| woodpecker does.
THE CEDAR BIRD.
Of the cedar bird, or cherry bird, the Doc
| tor spoke at some length, wishing to rescue il
| from It's bad reputation as thief of cherries.
1t is 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
| iiocks 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 tiocks in June, after the 'worms."
| and II 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
nudge is SO destructive. They are in pursuit
| of the larye Of these flies in the heads of the
wheat while the grain is in its milky state.
and farmers. have supposed birds were the
| cause of the trouble, not knowing that they
were their best friends.
| THE w.RBLERS
The family Of warblers includes some thirty
| or forty species. They are all small, but ex.
| cluslyeiy nsectivorous-most of them are very
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 orchards: in the
| fall they stop and feed Oh the late brood Of
Palmer worms that so infest our elm and
maple trees, becoming exceedingly fat.
THE wHIPPOORWUL
| Individual insects are as wonderfully made
as any Of the rest of creation. Moths lily only
at night, yet Solomon in all his glory was
| not arrayed like one Of these" Ten thousand
lenses to form the eye; one hundred thousand
feathers to complete the wings: vet the whin
| poorwlll will snap up dozens Of them in A sin
gle night. The whjppoorwill is nocturnal
bird, and its beak is so formed that it takes in
moths as a net takes in fish. The ewes of Aies
enable them to see all around them. and tha
muscular force OF their wings is so quick that
they can dodge the ram drops in a shower,
| yet the swallow is so formed that it lives ex
| cIuslveiy on insects taken on the wing.
THE BEAKS OF BIRDS.
The beaks Of all species of birds differ
from each other, but the beak of each is
formed exactly for taking the insects its in
stnct teaches 1t to choose as its food. Many
| OF the birds live exclusively on insects-as
| the warblers, blue-hirds and creepers. Some,
again, that are classed as insectivorous will
| occasionally take berries, cherries or grimes
| as the orioles, mocking- birds, cat-birds and
thrushes. Some seem omnivorous, and eat
almost anything-as robins and cedar-birds
and are gross feeders. a large class-as the
! bob-o'-links, black-birds, finches, and some
Of the spawows-will live on insects in sum.
| mer and seeds IN winter, or mix them when
they can find both. Others again have still a
WIDER range-as jays, crows, and butcher
| birds.
THE ICHNEUMON.
But the most important agent in the regu-
lation of the insect world is an order peculiar
| to insects. We have nothing CORRESPONDING
to it in the other departments of animated
creation. They are sometimes called para
| sites, but not correctly. Parasites are every
where; even vegetables have them. The mis-
tletoe Is parasite. But these are not ueces-
garily destructive to the life of the victim.
The ichneumon is. [ allude to those peculiar
ties-wasp-shaped and with four wings
| that deposit their eggs in the bodies of other
Insects, the young feeding upon the living flesh
of these victims, and upon which they grow to
maturity. This seems a strange Providence,
| and hard to comprehend; but still it is so
Without such an agent the Hessian fly would
have destroyed the wheat crops of this coun-
| try, but with it the Hessian fly was controlled
in single season, and has been kept in check
for fifty years. Thousands Of other insects
that would soon be troublesome are CON
trolied in the same way, and so quietly that
| we hardly know how.