The Holly chieftain., 1897-07-30

its industry. l|ut lour tuficd titmice
contained no less than go specimens.
and nine lung-tliled chickadccs had Sc
cured by hard work 4sl Of these enc
mics of agriculture. Four slender
billed uuthatchcS had the remains OF
- Iocusts. But the little warblerS also
insisted in taking u hand" in the gen
cral massacre, for seven golden war
blers turned in - locusts and I7G other
insects. Five bIlck-throated green
wurblers had secured Il6 of the hop
pers and lO4 -thcr insects Four black
poll warblers gathered 123 Iocusts and
A. other insects. Eight prairie warblers
showed the remains of llG locusts and
a still larger number of other insects
Seven barn swallows called in 1879 10
Gusts; eight cave swallows exhibited
326 of the pests five bank swallows
contained lOi, aud ten purple martins
had sacrificed 265 of these insects.
Many OF these birds were seen to feed
the inmates of their nests with Young
locusts.
But the roll call does not stop here,
even il our space should; and we would
gladly give the complete record-for
the roll of honor includes the yell
low-headed black bird. the yireus,
shrilles, the bobolinks, Baltimore ori-
oles. Brewers blackbirds. purple
Rrackle and others which ate locusts
almost without limit. Not only these
ravens. the crows. the magpies and
the blucjays followed up the good
work and consumed vast numbers of
the pests. The flycntchers and pewees
We're not far behind, while 34S hop
pers" were taken from the .s,omachs
OF seven night hawks. The humming
birds are generally regarded as simply
| ornamental, but Prof. Aughey states
that his cat caught specimen of the
ruby-throatcd humming bird, whose
| stomach contained the bodies of four
locusts. Ten specimens OF the yellow
billed cuckoos yielded '4l6 locusts and
ljZ other insects. But the woodpeck-
ors Were evidently bent on business,
and did not confine themselves to "A
single article of diet, for 90 woodpeck-
ers contained S53 locusts and RS in
sects of various sorts. Even the birds
I OF prey seemed to have joined in the
] good work. for is owls examined dis
| played the remnins of almost 600 To-
Gusts and other insects. Not TO be out
done by the owls. the two hawks 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, a large
/ variety OF shore birds did almost equal
l ly good work. considering that their
natural food is largely found in the
watey.
In view of the above. can any
farmer have a shadow of doubt as TO
I the inestimablc value of the birds as
aids in protecting his crops2 II few
birds furnished such results for n sin
gic days work, what would be the
result were 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-like 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 We're robbers
and enemies, and especially where he
allows them to be slaughtered for nc
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
all of such unquestioned truthfulness
us to leave no doubt as TO the facts in
the matter. \ word to the wise is suf
iicent,