The San Francisco call., 1897-05-16


Nv neiehbor, the farmer. went through
his orchards the other day popping away
with a shotgun at the small olrds dis
porting themselves among the trees. L
am sure he was under the impression
that he was saving his crop, but glanced
at the trees as drove by and saw more
than one eossamer nest from whlcn, In
week or 40. more worries will have hatched
than he can possibly find birds enough to
devour. They will cost him more cherries
than all the birds on the mountainsioe
could rob him of, and the burden OF de-
stroying them will be heavier, 1ar. than
that of carrying a bout gun, taxing futile
aim at the tuneful little friends who are
only too glad to protect has trees, II ne
Will but let them.
We have none too many birds to do TINS
for us, and those we have are in danger OF
being exterminated by the onward marcn
of civilization. Most even OF our seed
eating birds seem to be insect-destroyers
at certain seasons of the year. The little
thistle bird, sometimes called the Califor-
mia canary, but who is rightfulIy the
American goIdfinch, is capital illustra.
tion of this. Early in the sprngtime
tu6S6 DiIQS u1dy OC oCCh iSootAAS uPOh VIZ
fluffy seeds Of the willows. They make
their appearance with their blossoming
and continue with US until late in the au-
tumn.
As summer advances we see them in
great flocks on the thistles and among the
tarweed eating the seeds, but just now
they are rearing their young broods upon
insects. We may watch them clrcllng
about in the air, from morn till dewy eve,
catching these and carrying them to their
nests to poke into the yawning, clamorous
bills of baby birds. Even the California
linnet, the mischievous little crimson
headed housefinch, does his share toward
kee ping Tavaging insects in check, but 1t
must be confessed his depredations among
the fruit, a little later on, will sorely try
the soul of the orchardist. The house,
finch is pretty bird and sweet, continu-
Gus singer, but as a neigh bor he is, to my
mind, far more Objectionable than the
despised English sparrow.
He seems to be even more quarrelsome
than the sparrow. He is noisy and un-
tidy. A pair of linnets nesting, as they
are fond of doing, under the caves of
house porch, will keep the floor Uttered
the season through with grass roots,
sticks. leaves and general assortment of
rubbish that, if allowed to accumulate,
would make great pile before summer
passed. The male bird has trick of
bringing this stuff long after the nest is
finished and the eggs laid by his practical
little mate, who wastes no time in such
nonse nse. Ii l were making list OF
birds that should be exempted from pro-
I T - 81
name of this finch.
Nearly equal to him in capacity for
mischief is the cherry bird, or cedar wax
wing, bird that has until within the
past few years been com paratively rare In
this State, but which is becoming all too
common in some orchard sections. I
fancy most orchardists would wish to add
to this list the sapsuckers and wood
peckers. and 1 am not sure but that some
of these are sufficiently predaceous to
merit the disfavor with which they are
regarded. The sapsucker in our citrus
be Its has developed wonderful fondness
for tho sap of the orange tree, and tn get
this they bore rings of little holes about
the trunks of trees and drink the drops as
tl ey aow.
A sapsucker will completely girdle
tree with these holes and soon cause its
death. They are readily disposed of by
injecting little strychnine and honey
into the holes they make. As they re-
turn to these from time to time they are
pretty certain not to miss the fatal dose,
Perhaps the larger owls and hawks do
damage enough to justify warfare against
them. but the owner Of a squirrel-infested
field may well look upon these birds -
his friends; and the sad-voiced little
screech- owl. with his humorously pa.
thetic vissge, is worth his weight in gold
about barn. He is lar more useful than
cat for clearing the place of vermin.
Sentiment causes US TO look askance at
the shrek, whose name, butcher-bird is
supposed to express his cruel, blood.
thirsty nature, but the butcher bird is
comparatively rare. With a fairly alert
pair of eyes. where birds are concerned. I
have only seen one during this season and
the last. He is, moreover, useful in kill
ing fieldmice and gophers, and while we
cannot call him lovable bird ne certainly
does no evil that would justify US in ex-
terminating him. question whether the
circumstance of his killing little birds
justifies our hatred of him-the small boy
often does that with far less excuse.
But tho jays and magpies should be
given no quarter. Even the handsome
coat cannot blind us to the fact that the
California bluejay is an arrant rascal, a
cowardly, clustering, cruel thief, preying
indifferently upon orchard, chicken-yard
and songbird's nest. The road-runners,
queerest OF all California birds, are often
accused of being a menace to young
chickens and eggs, but on the other hand
they are remarkably useful in keeping
down ground squirrels and gophers.
They prey, also, upon the lizards and
little snakes which we can i'll afford to lose
from our fields and gardens. But the fact
that the road-runner Will attack and kill
both the ratsler and the corral snake makes
him useful member of society III some
sections.
suspect that the mischief done BY the
red-shafted flicker, or high hole. against
which our country boys are encouraged
to do battle, is greatly exaggerated The
California woodpecker's trick OF burying
acorns is mischievous one when it leads
him to riddle housetops for this purpose.
We sometimes come upon trees WITH the
bark literally honeycombed with these
holes, but have never seen the flicker at
work thus. nor am / at all certain that