The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-03-08
Beneficial wild Birds.

AT q recent meeting OF n ontario
agricultural commission held at London,
Mr.. William E Sanders. the well-known
Canadian ornithologist gave a account
OF some ~insectivorous birds that were
worthy Of encouragement He said he
had been engaged in the study of birds
for the last seven or eight years. and
had examined the crops of probably
about two hundred; Of the birds which
were purely inscctivorous. the most
Common was tho largest family Of
Garblers, Of which the yellow warbler
sad the red start mostly took their food
ON the wing. but partially on the
branches OF trees; of tho birds which
took their food exclusively on the wing
caere were the fiy-catchers, which in
eiuded the king bird and the peewee;
NE r food was chiefly flies. Moths were
generously caught by nighthawks. and
desc altogether with sthe swallows he
considered birds beneficial to the farmer
aud fruit-growcr. OF the birds which
a. partly on the wing and partly on
rees, the food of the yellow warbler
consisted chiefly of the Larvae and eggs
= moths, which they took from tho
.saves of trees; tho vireds and cuckoos
were birds of the same class, and simil-
arly beneficial. The bluebird fed most
~ on insects, though it might-take grain
when its favorite diet was not obtain
able. The insects devoured by the last
described class of birds were mostly in
furious to the orchadist and the farmer.
The nuthatch, which was . very
common bird, stayed in these latitudes
the year round, and lived almost en-
tirely on insects and their eggs. and
c~hrysalides. The woodpeckers mostly
took their food upon trees. Tho red
headed variety were generally consider
cd a pest on account Of their devouring
90 much fruit. chiefly cherries and ap-
Piles. The high-holder woodpeckers
though it occasionally ate 3 few cher
ries, was on tho whole . bird which
should be protected. owing to the num-
Der Of insects it devoured. The hairy
and downy woodpeckers and the yellow
bellied variety were commonly, but he
believed unjustly, denominated sap
suckers, and accused Of destroying
fruit and other trees by extracting tho
sap from them, He had never seen
trees injured by them. and they were
beneficial birds in his estimation.
OF the birds which ate their food up
on the ground there was first the thrush
es, including tho robin. the tawny
thrush, tho brown thrush, and tho cat
bird. From his examination Of the
maws Of the robin ho had very little to
say in his favor, as they were very de-
structive TO cherries and other fruits.
ap1 ate very few insects-chiefy cole
optera-and then only when it could
not get fruit; the cat bird was allied to
the robin, and like it was destructive to
raspberries; the tawny and the brown
thrushes were almost exclusively in
s%ectivorous. Tho food Of the blackbird
family-which included tho red-winged
blackbird, the blackbird, tho COW
bird, this meadow lark, and the oriole-
consisted largely of beetles and Larvae;
the crow blackbird, however, lived
almost entirely on grain; while the cow
bird. like the European cuckoo, was
decidedly injurious by laying its eggs
in the nest of other and beneficial birds.
whose young were generally starved to
death, owing to the greater size and
moro clamorous appitite Of the intrud
ing brood; the red-winged blackbird
fed on the larve Of beetles in the spring.
but in the fall it devoured grain.
About rs per cent of the food of the
meadow lark consisted of beetles and
other insects, the remainder being
vegetable food, but Of what kind he had
been unable to ascertain. The Bathurne
oriole vas beneficial to the farmer.
Tho sparrow were all pretty much grain
feeders. though the groy bird or chip
ping sparrow fed largely on insects.
Our variety, the purple finch, devoured
the buds of trees, and was injurious on
that recount. Tho indigo bird fed
mostly on tho seeds Of grass and woods.
The English sparrow seemed TO feed
about equally on seeds and insects. but
no had not examined their stomachs.