The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-08-03
The Food Of Birds.

The practical utility of birds as
agents for the destruction of nOxious
insects can hardly be overestimated.
But their agency, by the great majority
of farmers, is generally overlooked or
considered too lightly, If such would
only study the habits of birds and in
sects they would discover the import
ant part which each plays in the econ
omy of nature; and history itself
proves that any interference with their
relations to each other is sure to be fol-
lowed with disastrous results. Nature,
if left to herself, establishes q whole
some balance among her creatures; that
is, she produces no more of one species
than shall be kept in check by another.
If there is an insect which feeds upon q
certain plant there is also bird which
destroys the insect and an animal
which devours the bird, and so on up
the scale, each curbing the undue in
crease of the next inferior creature. 1t
is when man interferes with the work
ing of this law that results are sure to
follow which are disast Gus. Take for
instance the silkworm, which feeds up
on the foliage of the mulberry tree and
spins the cocoon which in its manu-
facture furnishes profitable employ
ment to many men, women and children,
and brings in large revenues to the
country. Insects we must thank fol-
honey, the sweetest of sweets; the air
we breathe and the water we drink are
kept pure and wholesome by the agency
of myriads of little creatures which draw
sustenance from the impurities of the
elements. A study into the lives and
purposes of insects convinces the stu.
dent that it would not be good policy
to destroy them entirely. even if we had
the power; but it is well to keep them
in check if possible. In regard to the
fertility of birds and insects, the ma
jOrity of birds have but one brood of
young in the course of the year; a few
have two or three. In the case of the
smaller insect-eating birds, the number
of eggs to brood is on an average not
more than five. Some of the larger
birds, as the various Gallina, lay from
five or six to twenty eggs to a brood.
On the other hand, the reproductive
energy of insects is truly marvellous. A
single pair of grain weevils will produce
5000 young between April and August.
plant lice, which are found on almost
all plants. are produced in spring from
eggs laid the season before, and through
the summer only females are devel-
oped. At the last of the season males
and females both appear, and eggs are
laid for the brood which matches early in
the spring. Reaumer SAYS that one indi-
vidual in one season may become the
progenitor of 5000, 100000. The silk
worm moth produces about 500 eggs;
the great goat moth about 1000, and so
on down to the white ants, one of which
deposits not less than sixty eggs min
ute, giving 5000 in an hour. With this
wonderful power of production the
question arises what shall prevent them
from overrunning the country? Vari-
GUS causes operate to check undue in
crease of insects, chief of which is the
appetite and instinct which a wise
Providence has given to birds. If the
number of eggs produced by insects is
astonishing, the number destroyed by a
single bird is no less SO. A woodcock
will eat its own weight of insects in a
single night; pair of sparrows will
destroy 1850 caterpillars in week. A
brood of cartridges will nearly extermi-
nate the denizens of an ant-hill in q
couple of DAYS. All birds of those
that live mostly on insects are constant
ly employed in destroying insects and
their eggs. Birds are more common
prey to mankind than insects, and
as a matter of course insects are on the
increase and birds on the decrease, and
this will continue to be the case, unless
birds are protected, until eventually in
sects will destroy everything that
grows. Herewith we give the names
of a few birds that destroy insects:
Humming birds, swifts. whippoorwills,
night hawks, fiycatchers, thrushes, blue
birds, wood inhabiters, titmice, nut
matches, creepers, wrens, warblers,
swallows, chattererS, starlings. orioles,
blackbirds, crows, heronS, snipeS. etc.
OF all the birds that are useful, perhaps
the crow and the robin have been the
most discussed by farmers, some con-
tending that each does more harm than
good, and vice versa. The fact is that
the crow does really more harm in de-
stroying the eggs of insect-eating birds
than he does directly to the farmer.
There is no rose without its thorn. We
must take the bitter with the sweet.
But let us bear in mind that it is to our
advantage to protect the birds.-San
Francisco Chronicle.
CurrieS.