The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-06-04
" Fruit-Eating Birds"


A correspondent of the Chronicle calls
upon US to say whether the fact that we
have never seen robins eat any one of the
injurious insects, list of which we gave
in a recent article under the above head
ing, is " full proof p" that they never eat
such. 1t is not. 1t is quite possible that
robins may eat some Of them occasionally
But our thirty years experience as fruit
grower and observer of birds in the or
chard and garden has afforded us full
proof that robins do not eat enough of
any of those insects to make any appre-
ciable difference in their numbers, or in
the thoroughness of the devastation and
destruction they would work did we de-
pend upon any or all birds to rid us of
them.
There are quite a number of small
harmless birds about orchards and fruit
grounds that do eat leaf-lice (aphids),
but they also eat the lady-bugs, which
destroy the eggs of the same insect.
Nevertheless, we have nothing against
those birds, for, like the poor widow, they
edo what they cam" and never do other
harm than by their indiscriminate taste for
both the injurious and beneficial insects.
The writer of the article referred to is
very hostile to crows, cats, hawks and
jays. He has no mercy at all on the crow,
and denies that he ever eats the white
grub. He says " Farmer Hill," who had
large fields badly affected by this insect,
"never saw crows eating it. But, as we
have seen, this writer has himself no con-
fidence in such negative evidence. At the
Montpelier meeting of the Board of Agri-
culture, in the winter of 1882, several
gentlemen testified that they had seen the
crows destroying white grubs, in great
numbers, and one said they practically
exterminated them on one meadow.
Mr.. s" declares that "there is no
trouble in keeping birds from fruit" You
have only to sit at the window "with a
stout piece of Irvine fastened to slight
springy stakes along the bushes, and now
and then strip of red flannel pinned to
the Irvine, and all 30 attached to single
string that the whole apparatus can, by a
sudden jerk" be caused to " brighten the
birds powerfully" and give yourself a
good laugh without hurting the birds at
all Just here we would like to enquire
why this ingenious invention is not put
to use in frightening the crows so "pow.
erfully" that they will soon cease to de.
stroy the young birds of which the "black
rascals are so fond.
just think, when one has Gas we unfor.
tunately have) five or six acres set out to
currants, Strawberries, raspberries, black.
berries and other fruits Ito say nothing
of some acres of seeds), the season OF
which extends from the middle of June
to the last of August, finding it "no
trouble" to. organize such system OF
strings all over the place, with crew Of
hired help to jerk them
Dear friend as" just as there is nc
known or practicable way of preventing
crows from eating eggs and destroying
young birds without killing the crows, SC
there is no way of keeping robins, cat
birds, sparrows, black birds and thrushes
from destroying fruit and seed plantations
without the use of the shotgun. And
even this is by no means easy. as" says
that his string arrangement will soon
cause the birds to "end their visits"
The truth is that powder and shot, in use
through the whole season, will hardly do
it. But it is waste of time to reason
with the bird fanatics. Because some of
these destructive birds give them little
personal pleasure, they want to convince
men whose business is fruit or seed-grow-
ing that they ought to submit to ruinous
losses for the benefit of these feathered
pets. 1t is selfish sentimentalism that
is unworthy of serious consideration. 1t
reminds us of the remark of the fashion
able woman, when her pet dog bit piece
out of mans leg. "Poor dear l hope
it won't disagree with him."