The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-04-12
Birds on the Farm.


State Board of Agricultural, by Prof. w.
A. Storms, of Amherst, Mass.
| The crow regulates its food from neceS-
| sity, and not from choice. ohm, strictly
a grain-feeding, and not an insect-eating
bird, corn is his fayorite diet. 1t is not
true, rs some have claimed, that it picks
out weevel-eaten OF imperfect kernels from
the hills. He eats all he can get, good or
bad, and though he is also great scourger,
the balance is rather against his being ben
sect-eating bird 1t prefers insects in the
larval, pupal, and adult stage to any other
fool. Few persons have any idea of the
enormous, the incalculable number Of in
sects that robins eat every year. A young
robin in the nest requires daily supply of
food equivalent to considerably more than
its own weight. To supply the millions of
young birds Matched each year. thisrequires
enormous numbers of insects The service
OF these birds, during the time they are Ell
gagged i'll rearing their young alone, would
entltle them protection, were the parents
themselves to feed exclusively upon garden
fruits during the whole period. But at
this time the diet of the old birds is very
largely of an animal nature; nor is this the
only season during which the destruction
of insects goes on. 1t does no harm toput
scare-crows in your trees and gardens to
drive off the robins, but it hardly pays to
kill them. Yet when killed. they make
very delicate eating.
Swallows may generally be found where
there are grain fields. The summer range
OF these birds includes nearly all the cen
tral portion and the great grain-growing
sections of the West. They are more OF
less migratory, and spend their winters in
the South. As.pestiferous as the cave and
barn swallows are with their gatherings,
and the annoyance they give.the farmers in
various other ways, they are the natural
enemies of the midges and similar small
insects that prey ON grain, and pursue
them with unremitting vigilance. 1t has
been estimated that the nesting of q single
pair of swallows will in twenty-one DAYS
consume $4,000 insects. Their benefit isl
simply incalculabe.
Bluebirds have largely superseded sWai-
lows near houses and protect fruit trees
from insects much better than the swal-
lows do. The martin is too lazy to do much
good, and has been largely driven away
from New England. The king bird, or bee
martin, has been voted IL terror to bee
keepers; but it has been found that the
immense number of insects it DESTROYED
more thans balanced this evil Again. the
king-bird4 drives away other birds from
fruit trees, and is useful for this reason. |
Ii suitablyabaited with scraps Of cotton,
strings, and other loose material to com
plete nest, the king-bird will soon accrs-
tom itself to building in and about the
orchards, gardens, .and even the houses Of
our farmers, and thus protect thousands of
dollars worth of vegetables and fruits
1t is strictly anIinsectivorous bird and will
not destroy, on the whole, that which con-
duces to the interests of the farmers Al
together the king-bird is one of the most
valuable species for agricultmists. The
legislation in regard to this bird should be
of the strictest kind.
Another species doing an immense
amount of good.in.its own quiet way is the
yellow-billed as also it's ally, the black
billed cuckoo. These birds build in apple
and fruit trees. They are strictly insect
eating, whilethey make terrible raids upon
the caterpillar They should be encouraged
in every possible way.
The blue jay does much benefit, but 50
much direct damage that it is almost absurd
to class him as a friendof the farmers. The
Baltimore oriole is very destructive topea-
vines early in the season, but he eats class
OF insects not touched by other birtls-the
leaf beetles and the larvae of many species of
insects inhabiting theItops of elm, oak, and
apple trees. At the end of the season a bal /
ance will be found in the orioles favor
The nut-hatch is eminently an insect-eat-
ing bird, living largely upon grubs which
hide under the bark of oak, chestnut, elm,
maple, and other rough-barked trees. The
black titmouse, or chicadee, is of direct
benefit to forests by the great number of
insect larvae consumed during the year. 1t
eats insects too small for the nut-hatch.
The woodpecker roots out larger insects
than either Of the two preceding kinds, but
can hardly be said to be an especially val
liable aid to the farmer.
The wrens are strongly beneficial to gar
dens and plants about the house, because
of the number Of caterpillars they eat.
The f1y-catchers are beneficial, and so are
the thrushes, Warblers; and vircos.