Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-06-21

holden at Brandon, week before last, sov-
eraI papers of interest to the farmers Of tho
State we're read. From these We select the
following
BIRDs As RELATED ~ AGRICULTURE
Prof Perkins bcz N ~ a statement Of the
z5oloyictl position ami characters of birds.
Lirds show mele uniformity than any other
class OF vertebrate There are no such alb
orrant forms as bats among mammals. All
birds have wings, though all d. not fly. The
movement Of tile dying birds is very rapid
Hawks nv 50 miles an hour, swallows and
swIfts 4U ID % miles, and can keep it up
hours and even days. The eyes Of birds pos
s'ss great power OF adaptation, seeing equal
" We'll long or short distances. The diff r
ent orders and genera were briefly recapitu-
lated
The rqptorss Or birds Of prey were first
spoken Vt ia relation ~ agriculture. All arr
Injurious except owls, the larger of which
will destroy nice, and the smaller, moths.
The ScanS0Tes, or climbers, are useful
Toodpeckers seem fnr the protection Of our
trees from insects. IL Is erroneous to call any
OF chem .. sap-suckers' Taey are after in
scots when pcckng the bark. The tTe, =
most visited ~ them arc the most thrifty.
There ere seven or eigLtsPc Of woOdpeck
crs in Vermont, and are all useful. The
hairy ani dOwuy wood peckcrs are about
orchar and should lie ere Juraged there
Some ID the wO0ipcckers eat corn and some
fruit, but their main food is insects. The
tHscSspreS or p.rching birds are a suJie t o.
contention lis to their usefulness. The night
hawks destroy night flying moths. Tie tit
mouse pulls of buds, but only those contain
ing worms Iue chlcadce Or bIack-cappcd
tltmous. search the bark of trees for egg
OF insects. IN summer they feed On grubs
The 70 lbs cat small lrui but destroy worms
= = vast extent, tar exceeding in benefit the
the injury received from them. They are
special encmje. Ot the cur-wJrm, So dcs,ruc-
tive ~ young ants The robin c.nrot he
raised exreps ~ insect food. They die
when fI pIrtilI.y with bread and fruit
They Viii ,tarve t. death On cight worms a
day. Nothing less t1an i0rty-1ne per cent
more than it own weight Of worms daily
viii keep a young rob alive. This is trut
Of thru-hcs and all similar birds.
The cedar Or cherry bird is also an insect
cater, though fond Of fruit, which they eaI
ouly for a short time.
The hUbJlInks Do much damage to rice II
the Slut1, bnt destroy many insects that
prey On tho cotton. At the North they DO
not touch gram, but eat insects entirely.
The cat bird Is great in-ctt-eater. The
bank swallows. Black birds destroy grass
hoppcrs in great numbers.
There are in Vermont 500 species Of Icpi-
dopterOuS insects moths etc. OF these each
female lays 500 eggs. They thus in :rclSe
with immense rapidity, AM the great agents
OF their destru ton are the birds. But the
lepIdaptcrL are but a small portion of iuIurI-
GUS insects. Beetles, grasshuppers, 1ies, etc. .
multiply in vast numbers and arc only kept
d Jwn ny birds Gre It Losses, amounting {,
many millions Of dollars, have followed the
determination Ut birds IN some parts Of Flu
rope, and no human power could stay the
rayagss of the destructive insects which
spread over the country.
There are four species of hlackbrds in
Vermont The crow blackhlrds destroy
much corn, tut also many insects he
crow d. much damage 20 corn, but they
also eaf many insects. They however des
troy many young insect eating birds, and
are therefore, On the who very injurious t.
the farmers. The blue-iny j. also an enemy
to the farmer IN the same way also the
Canada Jay. The purple finch feeds on fruit
buds. The butcher bird DESTROYS beneficial
buds
The rasores, qtails, Ia'ridges, &c, do but
little injury- and not much good. Most Of the
waders, (snipes, &c y are in the same cate
CORY
Tho argument in favor Of birds form their
beauty and me 0dy TIA place, but the great
reason Tor preserving them is based on their
utiitT.
Professor Collier made some observations
upon