The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-10-17
BIRD AND FARM.

BIRD AND FARM.
Even Blackbirds and Crow Of some Ben-
cfs to Agricuiturists.
The aim Of this article is to point out
the good and bad qualities of our COM
mon birds. and see whether they do
more harm than good; to discover
these we must consider their food It
is an interesting fact that our very in
furious insects only come periodically,
and when they do appear all the birds
leave their usual food consisting
mainly of fruit and grain) and attack
harmless and injurious insects alike.
When vast swarms Of grasshoppers are
leaving devastation in their wake. the
birds leave their natural food and fall
upon the choppers. but after the storm
OF insect life has passed the birds return
to their natural food. when the farmer
has but little to spare. The thought
may suggest itself that the birds by
eating the fruit and grain of the farmer.
after he has suffered from the grass
hoppers, do more harm than they did
good before. This, however. is not the
case. Let us glance at the following
figures and then perhaps we will change
our minds: An ordinary grasshopper
/ weighs about a tenth of an ounce. and
in the course of twenty-four hours eats
and digests about five times his weight.
or half an ounce.
For example, we will take the robin;
when the country is overrun with grass
hoppers he eats about sixty during the
day. or six ounces. Now, if these
grasshoppers had lived they would have
devoured thirty ounces of the farmer
grain in twenty-four hours. When the
robin is busy with the choppers" he
eats nothing else, and when he returns
| to his regular diet he eats about four
ounces OF the farmers grain in day,
the remaining two being made up of
harmless and injurious insects.
We have now arrived at the questions
to be considered:
/. Are birds injurious or beneficialp
2. What birds do injury to agricul-
tural plantsp
s. Can these birds be exterminated
without augmeDting the farmers lossP
| After the foods Of the various birds
are looked into we shall be prepared to
answer these questions. In describing
the foods it is to be understood that
everything is in natural condition: that
is. no unusual abundance of grasshop-
pers or similar pests.
The robin lives on insects from Feb
ruary until May. south of the Ohio, and
| in higher ATTITUDES his insect diet ex-
tends from the middle of March to May.
During the remaining part of his stay
with us we find him changing his diet
for fruit. and in the height of the sea-
son we find him living almost entirely
on it; in short. it forms two thirds Of his
entire food. while the remaining third is
formed of insects, ten per cent ofwhich
are harmless. The fruits Sir Redbreast
delights in most are raspberries. straw
berries, blackberres, cherries and
grapes.
The cat bird eats ants, crane flies and
larvmof some of the predacious beetles;
| its taste for fruit does not differ from
the robins. 4s
We find more good qualities in the
brown thrush than in any other bird.
To be sure, it eats limited quantities Of
fruit, but that little score of harm is
wiped out by the long score of good it
does by, devouring great numbers of
harmful insects.
The blue bird may be classed as benc-
fetal, because the amount of fruit it
eats is so small as to hardly be noticed,
and it destroys injurious insects in great
numbers; but it also attacks many
harmless and beneficial insects. such as
spiders (not properly an insect) and
| flies. 's 1915 sH Hi
| The titmouse. or chicadee. is a wood
land bird, and troubles the farmer least
of all the bird family; in fact, the only
way he opens himself to censure is his
fondness for beneficial insects, but even
on that score he nearly clears himself.
| because he eats numberless injurious in
sects besides destroying their eggs. This
| bird is one of the few which eat plant
| lice.
The cedar bird is noted for its ravages
in the cherry orchards, but even this
| feathered robber is not wholly bad,
though we must admit that he does not
atone for the damage he does by eating
| few predacious beetles.
The English sparrow is another bird
we must put down as one that does more
harm than good, eating more grain than
| it does insects.
The meadow lark is the only repre-
sentative of the oriole family whose food
we know anything definite about We
find it making boutthree-fourths of its
food of insects. while the remaining
one fourth consists of seeds or grain. II
eats no fruit whatever.
The COW bird feeds principally on
seeds Of weeds and grain, but destroys
many injurious insects.
| The common crow is omniverous in
habit. but is partial to corn. We also
find it eating insects in great numbers,
some harmless; but injurious ones he
DESTROYS in larger numbers.
The blue jay has a great liking fol
cherries and eats them in great quaint.
ties, but makes his score good BY de.
stroying injurious insects.
The fly catcher. as its name implies,
Is wholly insectivorous, and would he
classed as harmless were it not for i.s
unfortunate liking for the 'busy bee"
but we find this fault outweighed by hil
Wholesale destruction of injurious in
secis, and we can place him within the
class of beneficial birds.
Woodpeckers are noted for their fond
ness of canker worms, and do moi
doubt the farmer is willing he should
have his FIJI. 1t must pe admitted thai,
he bores holes in the tree to build his nest
and samples the apples on your apple
trees; but that is the small price he de-
mands for the good he does in destroy.
ing canker worms.
The pigeons are entirely graniverous
(grain eating). but must be considered
only slightly injurious. as they cat but
small quantities of wheat. Although
they do not eat any insects. they dc
good service to the farmer by eating the
seeds of several noxious weeds
The quail eats less grain than the
pigeon. but devours great quantities oil
grasshoppers, chinch and potato bugs
| Tor really potato beetlcs). We must
class the Quail as beneficial to the
farmer. Isl
We will not consider any of the
aquatic birds, as they have so little to
do with the farmer that we can not say
whether they are beneficial or harmful.
Farm, Field and Stockndn.