The Hawaiian gazette., 1869-03-03

/ The following accurate and most Interest
| Ing observations are recorded in M<criIlz-
vray's British Hr.is, and they prove what a
/ vast number Of insects and catorpLll1s arc
Of feeding their young. A hut was bulls Of
| fir boughs, IN which the observer, hr- Weir,
hid himself feet from the nest Of thrush,
which was built In an old wall At . quar-
| ter-past one O'Clock be began his obserTa-
tions. AT halfpast two they began 70 feed
their young. From that time till four o'clook.
they fed them II times; ffom four 70 half
past five o'clock, p times; from halfpaat
| live TO seven O'Clock. q times; from seven
to eight o'clock, IS times; from eight to nine
O'Clock, II times; from ten to eleven o. clock,
10 times from Que to two o'clcck, IL times;
from two TO three o'clock, times; from
three to four o'clock, 6 times; from seven
to eight o'clock, Is times, and from eight %
halfp nine, II times. They then ceased
from their labors for the day, having fed
their young 2OJ times.
He made a Ike observation on pair Of
black-birds. They began TO feed their young
at quarter-past three O'Clock, and they con
tinued feeding them until twenty minutes
before nine O'Clock During that time, The
male fed the young ones "A times, and the
female 60 times.
His next observation was on pair OF blue
tit-mice. which began to feed their brood at
OF Young ones was six. They left on feeding
about half past eight O'Clock, having been
engaged almost necessarily for nearly seven
teen hours, after having fed their young 40
times. They appeared TO feed them solely
with caferpillars. Sometimes they brought
II single one at other times two orthrce small
ones. 1t is impossible TO calculate how many
had been carried In by them during the day.
These wellauthenticated observations
prove what an incredible number Of hurtful
creatures are destroyed by birds not strictly
insectivorous, and will, We trust, open the
eyes of those who still doubt the immense
good done by them.
The birds which eat insects, but do not
eat fruits or seeds, are the golden-erssted
wren, which Is the smallest Of all the birds
in Europe, the willow wren, the ehldchsG,
the wood warbler, the nightingale, the win
chat, the stonechst, the Wheatear, the wag-
tails, the tree pipit, the meadow pipit, the
fiyeatcher, the cuckoo, the night jar, the
hedge warbler, the bottletit, the tree creeper,
the wryneck, and all the swallow tribe
The wagtails are useful birds as feeders On
insects, but particularly midges, gnats, and
other flies that tease cattle. They folloW the
spade or plow, 70 feed upon the grubs tnrncd
up, and In this way destroy myrlsds Of wire
worms, and other destructive creatures
The nightingale does great services 10 the
cultivator by destroying numbers OF caterpil-
lars and grubs, as well as the moths, butter
flies, and beetles from which they are pro-
duced, and yet how great is the destruction
Of these first messengers Of spring. By
bird-catchersl
There is law in Prussia which we should
do well TO adopt in this country. With
view to prevent the diminutlons OF the night
ingales In their natural state Of liberty, Il is
there decreed th9t every person who keeps
nightingale in cage shall pay an annal tax OF
ten thalers forty franes,) and that any person
putting a nightingale in a cage without
giving Information to the police, shall be
fined ninety thalers.
"And now the nightingale with warbling lay,
Full sweetly halls the evenings loved return;
That heart whom tls s0ff music cannot move,
Is deaf TO pity, and l. dead TO love-"
The sect-eating birds which eat fruit
and seed also may be classed as follows: the
hedge sparrow or dunnock, the common
wren, the robin, the redstart, the tom III, the
cole tit, the marsh tit, and the blue lit.
The weeds and the insects which these birds
destroy, however, more than compensate for
the small quantity Of grain, flower seeds, or
fruit which they occasionally pilfer.
Among fruit-eating birds which also feed
on insects We may inclnde the black cap, tbs
garden warbler, white-tbroat, mistletoe
thrush, song thrush, blackhird, and starting.
The following birds live chiefly on grain
and the seeds Of weeds: the goiddnch, the
bullfnch, the ehafinch, the Iinnet the corn
bunting, the yellow hammer, the reed bun
ting, the bunting, the brambllng, and the
spdfT0u.
Among the birds that are most useful. as
grub and insect destroyers, may also be reek-
oncd all the ployer tribe, the skylark and
wheatear. The peewit Is Of the greatest use
to the agriculturist Even farmers, who
fancy every kind Of bird their enemies, will
allow that peewifs do their fallow lands
great good by the number Of insects they
devour