Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-07-17
NUMBER 20.
DO NOT KILL THEM.
BIRDS THAT ARE REAL AIDS TO FARM
GRs AND GARDENERS.


ems AND GARDENERS.
The Harm They Do 0. small Compared o"
the Geod They Accomplish -E,.a the
Much Abused Hawk aud O~i Render
vsiusbis ser, D.. and i,o slight Harm.
"No decent person who knows the
value ~ birds that sing. whether their
notes b. harsh or sweet voiocd. will
ever kill si,ging bird, " said natu.
ralist Thousands ~ birds that are of
inostimable value 20 the farmer n well
~ 20 the town dwell,r who grows fruit
Or keeps garden are slaughtered ruth.
lessly every year.
'Tho farmer. the gardener and the
fruit grUwor should know more about
the birds that nest and sing aud fiit
about their premises, for then they
would defend AMI protect them and In
time have them back In something like
their old time numbsrs and variety.
How often nowadays dos one ssa tho
saucy. rich voiced. nervous little wreni
A few years ago Il was soon and heard
everywhere. but IL must L. u favored lo-
cality that IL visits nav Yet the little
wren was q most ravcnOus dcyUurer ~
the I--tifcrous and destructive cutwOrm
u the gardens and did great work 90.
ward lcsscning the damage done by tho
p.st II the soil The bright little blue
bird clears the air and the ground u
thousands ~ codlin moths and canker.
worms during season
"Tho crow blackbird has NO pace at
the hands II man. Yet flock u them
In "a short time will clear anewly plant
al field u all IT, hosts Of destructive
laryw that the plow turns up The great
American crow it-clf would 10 the same
thing II IL wasn'tfor the inevitable .lan
with a gun that Just wants the crOw
to try IL once Neither the blackbird
nor the crow cars A. much for onrn A.
II dos for grul-, and II farmers would
scatter cOrn about their fields instead of
putting up scarocrows AMI the like tho~e
misundcrstood birds would never pull
up u hill of his planting The ohanc'-
arr anyhow that II the agriculturist will
take the trouble tO examine hill q
young corn that b. charges the crow
with pulling up be- will hnd that IL was
cut off by grub II some kind, and that
the crow was simply mining for the
grub. not the cUrn
"Tho robin. 10 cannot L. denied. Il q
SIRE trial to the man who has fruit
tres ami bushes. but II he could only
bring himself to stop and think how
many thousands ~ rayaging insects that
arr the especial enemies II his tree and
bushes that the robin destroys, both b's'
fore the fruit has ripcncd and for weeks
after IL l. gunc, be- would not bcgrudgo
the bird the few quarts of cherries OF
berries that IL lcyio. on - partial salts.
faction ~ the debt the grUwcr owes
him. The same may ~ said of the other
thrushes-f0r the robin II a thrush
the cherry birls. orioles, blue jays and
many Other biri- Of that class Thess
birds never levy tribute on grain Or
s,,,l-. but they do the farmer untold
benefit.
"The climbing bird. are the different
varieties II wuo'lpcck'rs, and they aro
constantly l.frionding growing things
Whenever wOolpcckcr l. heard tap
ping on q tire. IL i the doathkncll II
thc larym q some destructive inset
Yet it ~ not an uncommon thing to seo
lhe very Isrs0n for whom this bird Il
industriously no work following with his
gun the birds nd h"ad frum tire to
tree until the opportunity comes for
him a. sud load II shat into the un'
susp,cting feath,n'l philnthrupist IL
II. a 1T belief among farmcrs that the
wunlp.ck'r kills the tire IL works on.
and that hc is working for that very
purpu-e. II isa fact that thu common
little sap.uckor dos injuro tr"r, hut
the woodpccker never dos Quite tho
contrary. The white breasted nut hatch
and the little gray cr~hT.r-so general.
ly cunfound~l with thu sap-uckor-live
exclusively un tire insects, yet the nut
hatch l. in bad reputo among many
farmers l.cau-o they believe IL kills
their bss
"Tho meadow lark l. another bird
that has. little paoc 0n any ones land.
for there is mistaken notion abroai
that be- l. a game bird lie l. game In
the quality ~ bcing alert and hard Ia
grt shot at, but Il no more entitled to
bo - classified than thu flicker 90 high.
holder il The meadow lark l. a con.
slant f,,,lcr on underground laryE. and
whatever be- l. disturbed he u simply
driven away from active work In rid.
ding the grplnd of the worst kinds u
farm pestS The blue jay may b. said
to D. indirectly an enemy 10 the farmer
a. well A. friend. for IL has the bad
habit u destroying the egg u Other
birls that do only gooi.
IF there il one bird that the farmer
love. to do all in his powr 20 eNtormi.
nate more than he dos the crow. unless
IL may b. the hawk. that bird is the
owl He can't H. brought 10 the belief
that II IL were not Tor the owls and the
hawks his fields would b. Oycrrun AMI
burrOwod 10y field mice 10 such All "a.
tent tlat hlr tIhI, Nouih - ih TT
pctual danger: that owls, while out
mOusing. fccd on myri,ds u night ry.
ing moths and bsstle-. thus preventing
the laying II millions upon millions ~
the eggs ~ these insects. and that they
not only kccp the field mice down, but
Lessen the numh.r u domestic mice and
rats about harms aud outhouses 30 an
extent that small army of the most
vigilant cats could not surpass A. Ia
the hawk. the farmer rmembsrs that
ON some oocasion one carried OF achick.
IN for him. and therefore the fact that
the big soaring bird daily kills many
Geld mice. grasshoppcrs. snakes, lizards,
bs.tlcs and other ycrmin cannot b. st
up In it, defense The proportion Of
hawks Or owls that kill chickens IL
small compared with those who keep
down the deadly enemies of the farm.
cr's crops "-Exchanec