The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1897-07-10

its industry. But four tufted titmict
contained no less than $50 specimens.
and nine lo~ng-tailed chickadees had Sc.
cured by hard work 4s1 of these enc
mics of agriculture. Four slender
billed nuthatches had the remains of
92 locusts. But the little warblers also
insisted in taking a hand" in the gen.
eral massacre, for seven golden war
blers turned in a locusts and 176 other
insects. Five black-throated green
warblers had secured 116 of the hop
pers and 104 other insects. Four black
poll warblers gathered 1913 locusts and
AZ other insects. Eight prairie warblers
showed the remains of 116 locusts and
a still larger number of other insects.
Seven barn swallows called in 139 To-
Gusts; eight ave swallows exhibited
326 Of the pests; five bank swallows
contained 1O4, and ten purple martins
had sacrificed 265 of these insects.
Many of these birds were seer to feed
the inmates of their nests with young
locusts.
But the roll call does not stop here,
even if our space should; and we would
gladly give the complete recorder
the roll of honor includes the yell
low-headed blackbird, the vireas,
shrikes, the bobolinks, Baltimore ORR
oles, Brewers backbirds, purple
grackle and others which ate locusts
almost without limit. Not only these
birds did their full duty, but even the
ravens, the crows, the magpies and
the blucjays followed up the good
work and consumed vast numbers of
the pests. The iycatchers and pewees
were not far behind, while 34S "hop-
pers" were taken from the stomachs
CT seven night hawks. The humming
birds are generally regarded as simply
ornamental, but Prof. Aughey states
that his cat caught a specimen of the
ruby-throated humming bird, whose
stomach contained the bodies of foul
locusts. Ten specimens of the yellow
billed cuckoos yielded 416 locusts and
152 other insects. But the woodpeck-
ers were evidently bent on business,
and did not confine themselves to a
single article of diet, for 90 woodpeck-
ers contained $50 locusts and 725 in
sects of various sorts. Even the birds
of prey seemed to have joined in the
good work, for IS owls examined dis
played the remains of almost 600 To-
Gusts and other insects. Not to be out
done by the owls, the two Lawks which
were taken gave up 37s locusts. In the
same line followed the wild turkeys,
grouse, prairie hens and quail. Emu
lating the above good examples, Il large
variety of shore birds did almost equal
" good work, considering that their
natural food is largely found in the
water.
In view of the above, can any
farmer have a shadow of doubt as to
the inestimable value of the birds as
aids in protecting his crops? If a few
birds furnished such results for a sim
GIG days work, what would be the
result were a calculation to be made
OF the work of all the birds for an en-
tire season? All sorts of birds were
examined, from the pelican, with its
mammoth form. to the gem-lke hum
ming bird, and all proved to be the
friends of the farmer in protecting his
crops from the ruthless invader. How
foolish is he who allows these his allies
to be hunted as if they were robbers
and enemies, and especially where he
allows them to be slaughtered for no
good purpose. Would space permit we
could refer to hundreds of cases, in
many of which the evidence is even
stronger than any given above, and
ali of such unquestioned truthfulness
us to leave no doubt as to the facts in
the matter. A word to the wise is suf.
ficient.
H. II. WATERS.