The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1875-12-02
Spare the Birds.


hard" is a text on which few of us
have not heard sermons. Although
generally, if not always, applied to
crimes against morality and spiritual
life, it has still wider range, and is
equally applicable against the law of
nature.
Avaricc, greed, and selfshness in va
rious forms have depopulated our
rtreams of fish, and are even now at
work, with similar results, in the bays
aud inlets of our Atlantic coast. To
repair the loss of food Of this kind,
thus entailed upon us, governmental
fish commissions have been appointed,
with large expenditures Of money, to
restock the streams. and laws with
heavy penalties are passed to prevent
obstructing the water ways by dams,
and poisoning them by the waste from
manufactures. The same evil is going
on with our birds, which are rapidly
disappearing, and in their stead come
woeful insect plaques, the natural con-
sequences of mans disregard of that
law of equilibrium which exists every
where in nature.
Weneed no better illustration Of this
than the present locust or grasshopper
plague Of the west. We confess to but
little sympathy with the sufferers. 1t
may appear hard-hearted to say SO, but
they largely deserve the losses they
suffer, for such of them as have not
been active participants in the willful
slaughter of the grouse, have rendered
themselves scarcely less guilty by their
apathy and want of public spirit in not
providing proper legal remedies and
restrictions. Do not think that we
speak too harshly on this matter. IL is
a well known tact that these locusts
come from a section of country in
which grouse abound, and the eggs
aud Larvae of the locusts form large,
ifnot the main supply Of food to the
birds during the spring and summer
months. Prof. Riley, of st. Louis, the
State cntomologist Of Missouri-than
whom there is no closer observer or
better authority on the habits ofinsccte
estimates that one grouse will in one
season consume the eggs and Larvae of
locusts enough, if Matched out, to de-
stroy one hundred acres of crops.
When, therefore, men are allowed to
trap these birds to the extent of hun
dreds of tons weight each season, is it
any wonder that people are plagued
with locusts? They have their choice
grouse or .locusts; if they choose the
latter they should not complain.
1t is stated that nearly nine hundred
tons of these birds were received in
Chicago last winter, and such was the
glut in the market that immense quan-
titles were fed TO Logs or thrown into
the lake. Allowing that all that were
killed amounted to nine hundred tons,
the average weight of each bird being
two pounds, there were 100000 of
them, which according to Prof. Riley's
way Of estimating their feeding, would
have consumed the eggs and Larvae of
locusts sufficient to have destroyed the
crops of 100000 of acres, or three
times the area of the State of Pennsyl- |
yania.
In proportlonate extent is the DAM
age done by other birds. All over the |
country men and boys may be seen
stalking about with guns in their hands
ready TO shoot any bird, however small,
even though it be but wren. Is it
any wonder that we are affected by |
curculio, currant worms, rose slugs,
cabbage worms, cock chafer, gr1bs and |
other insects that DESTROY our fruit
and other crops? Plums, apriccts, nec-
tarines and.cherries, which were for
merry raised in abundance in and
around New York island, now can
hardly be raised at all.
Many foolish and stupid prejudiccs
exist against some birds. Take the
robin for instance, which is almost
charged with stealing cher
ries. We have watched him closely,
and found that in nearly all the cher
ries that he had bitten were the marks
Of worm or grub which he had ex- 4
lracted. Ifhe occasionally takes few s
perfect fruit, it is little compared toi t
he good he does. Now an outcry is | j